Turkey would like to join the European Union but the EU membership is not vital to it and is not the most pressing concern for Ankara, since the bloc currently is not willing to let it join, Turkish chief presidential adviser Ilnur Cevik told Sputnik.

“[Joining the EU] is not vital for us, but we do want it, but if we don’t get it is not going to be the end of the world,” Cevik said.

The president’s adviser added that the future of the European Union was uncertain and a lot would depend on the outcome of 2017 elections in Germany, France and the Netherlands.

“In the middle of all this we have the luxury of saying we can wait and see because they are not allowing us into in any case,” Cevik said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet at the presidential palace during the first visit since July’s failed coup in Ankara, Turkey, February 2, 2017.

Turkey became the candidate for EU membership in 2005. In March 2016, Turkey’s candidature received a boost as it signed an agreement with the European Union on taking back migrants who arrived illegally in Greece in exchange for financial aid and concessions on visas.

However, Brussels’ relationship with Ankara took a hit in the aftermath of July’s foiled coup in Turkey, when the European Union objected to the Turkish government’s clampdown on those suspected of ties to the coup organizers.

Source: Sputnik