![\"EU](\"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/EU-Turkey.jpg\")
\u201cEurope is much more in need of Turkey than Turkey is in need of Europe,\u201d the president of an Islamic think-tank has told AA.\nWadah Khanfar, president of Al Sharq Forum said Europe was “becoming weaker with Britain’s leaving” it and “with an economic crisis in Europe, Turkey would have a better hand in the future.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s why Turkey\u2019s position is much stronger right now; they can even negotiate for a much better deal in the future,\u201d he said.
\nSpeaking to AA in London at the \u201cEurope and its Neighbours\u201d conference organized jointly by Al Sharq Forum and Chatham House, Khanfar said Turkey is strategically re-positioning itself and it is much more distant from Europe than any other time before.
\nAl Sharq Forum, founded in 2012, calls itself an independent international network with a mission “to undertake impartial research and develop long-term strategies to ensure the political development, social justice and economic prosperity of the people of Al-Sharq [Arabic for The East]\u201d.
\nAlso pointing out that Turkey has been in NATO with a European perspective for the past 60-70 years, Khanfar said Turkey\u2019s rapprochement with Russia in strategic deals, is weakening Europe.
\nKhanfar said a Turkey-Russia partnership and \u201cbringing Iran into that form of understanding\u2026might create sense in Syria, in Iraq and also in the region\u201d.
\nKhanfar underlined that conflicts in the Middle East region had reached a point where they are directly affecting Turkey more than they are affecting Europe and it \u201ccannot afford to watch the developments without doing anything\u201d.
\nHe said the Europeans\u2019 approach to the Middle East has been dominated of policies depending on regional dictators to reach \u201cwhat [is] perceived as stability or fake stability\u201d.
\n\u201cEurope is not anymore defending the cause of the freedom and democracy.\u201d
\n\u201cTurkey\u2019s economy is growing much better than European economies and Turkey really does not need Europe, in a way.
\n\u201cIt needs Europe not to interfere in its domestic affairs. Because the dubious relationship with the [July 15, 2016] coup and after the coup, and many other complications\u2026 did not really help actually getting Turkey to be close to Europe\u201d.
\nKhanfar said Europe has \u201cdouble standards \u2026 regarding our region\u201d.
\n\u201cOn one hand they don\u2019t mind being very cosy with dictators in the region, like what they have done in supporting a military coup in Egypt and the aftermath of that, and they don\u2019t mind being also very lenient with people, like what we have seen in Saudi Arabia and \u2026 in the rest of the Arab world.
\n\u201cBut when it comes to Turkey they are trying to breach certain kind of values\u2026 and trying to interfere with the domestic politics.\u201d
\nKhanfar added that he wondered if those \u201cdouble standards were driven by interest or ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n