EU indicates Erdoğan as open target

While Ankara is expecting more solidarity and support from European states for Turkey's democracy and its EU membership bid, the EU leadership openly targeted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Germany's European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told the Bild newspaper that Turkey would probably not join the EU while President Erdoğan was president, targeting Turkey's leader directly.

Erdoğan is the country's first elected president and the most popular leader who accelerated Turkey's decades-long EU membership bid in recent years.

Ankara's application to accede to the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the EU, was made on April 14, 1987, but the official talks began decades later in 2005.

Turkey's several initiatives for accelerating the EU membership talks were postponed by EU mechanisms, as only 15 out of 35 chapters for the accession process were opened so far.

"It will probably be an issue for the period after Erdogan," Oettinger told German Bild newspaper.

Relations between Ankara and Brussels have become more strained, since following a failed coup attempt occurred in July the EU failed to show expected support for Turkey's democracy, which made history by foiling the coup.

On Sunday German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said he did not see Turkey joining the EU during his own political career, noting that the bloc would not be in a position to accept Turkey, even if Ankara met all the entry requirements tomorrow.