Istanbul - Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, expressed his strong displeasure with the European Union on Sunday, October 1, accusing it of deliberately creating obstacles to prevent Turkey's accession to the bloc.

In a visibly angered state before the parliamentary session, Erdogan declared that he had "ceased to anticipate any cooperation from the European Union, which has kept Turkey waiting at its doorstep for four decades." He also emphasized that while Turkey had fulfilled its promises to the EU, the EU had failed to honor most of its commitments, as reported by AFP.

The 69-year-old Turkish leader went on to state firmly that he would not accept any new demands or conditions in the accession process for Turkey to join the EU.

These comments by Erdogan followed a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that criticized Turkey for convicting a teacher on the grounds of using an encrypted messaging app associated with alleged coup plotters in the 2016 attempted coup. The ECHR suggested that this ruling could potentially apply to numerous other Turkish citizens who were imprisoned following the coup attempt in 2016.

In its verdict, the ECHR stated that Turkey's conviction of the teacher, Yuksel Yalcinkaya, was primarily based on his alleged use of ByLock, an encrypted messaging system that Turkish courts have claimed was intended for use by followers of Fethullah Gulen, a US-based preacher whom Turkey accuses of orchestrating the failed coup.

Turkey has attributed the failed coup attempt to a group associated with Fethullah Gulen.

Erdogan expressed deep dissatisfaction with the ECHR's decision, characterizing it as a pivotal moment that pushed him to make his strong statement against the European Union.

Prior to Erdogan's remarks, Turkish Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç had already rejected the ECHR's decision, asserting that it was inappropriate for the European Court of Human Rights to exceed its jurisdiction and pass judgment on the adequacy of evidence in a case that had been examined by Turkish judicial authorities at all levels.