Turkey wants to join EU within five years

In an interview with a German newspaper, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag has called for Turkey’s EU accession to be speeded up. Negotiations have stalled recently due to a power grab by the Turkish government.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag on Tuesday called for the country to become a member of the European Union by 2023, on the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the Turkish republic.

His comments, to German daily Die Welt, reaffirmed Turkey’s frustration at the stalling of accession talks with Brussels.