Erdogan vows to ‘boost ties’ with Europe if re-elected

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday vowed to improve tense relations with Europe as he presented the ruling party´s manifesto for June elections.

"We want to strengthen our economic and political relations with different regional structures, especially the European Union," Erdogan said during the official launch of the programme to a packed stadium in Ankara.

"We will not give up pursuing the EU accession process, on a win-win basis, which we consider a strategic objective," the president added. Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) which he co-founded in 2001 are seeking another mandate ahead of snap parliamentary and presidential polls on June 24.

Ties between Turkey and the EU have been strained especially over the crackdown that followed the July 2016 attempted overthrow of Erdogan with EU member states calling on Ankara to lift the state of emergency under which 50,000 people have been arrested.

But the AKP manifesto said EU ties "are not an alternative to our other relations". Erdogan´s comments are in marked contrast with last year´s bitterly fought referendum campaign on a new system enhancing the powers of the presidency. When EU member states including Germany, the Netherlands and Austria banned election rallies before the April vote, Erdogan accused them of acting like Nazis.

The party also said in its manifesto that it wanted to "overcome the issues with the US", adding: "It is essential to protect close cooperation with the US." Relations between the Nato allies have been strained over multiple issues including US support for a Syrian Kurdish militia and Washington´s failure to extradite Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Ankara of ordering the 2016 failed coup. The AKP in its manifesto said it wanted the US to cut off support to the People´s Protection Units (YPG) militi.