Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Ankara could "part ways" with the European Union if necessary when asked about the contents of a European Parliament report on Turkey.
The report, adopted earlier this week, said Turkey's accession process with the 27-member bloc could not resume under current circumstances and called for the EU to explore "a parallel and realistic framework" for its ties with Ankara.
Turkey has been an official candidate to join the EU for 24 years, but accession talks have stalled in recent years over the bloc's concerns about human rights violations and respect for the rule of law.
"The EU is trying to break away from Turkey," Erdogan told reporters ahead of a trip to the United States. "We will make our evaluations against these developments, and if necessary, we can part ways with the EU."
Turkey's Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that the European Parliament report contained unfounded allegations and prejudices and took "a shallow and non-visionary" approach to the country's ties with the EU.
Israeli troops and tanks pushed on Saturday into parts of a congested northern Gaza Strip district that they had previously skirted in the more than seven-month-old war, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, medics and residents said.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in immediate danger but still in a serious condition, his deputy said on Sunday, four days after an assassination attempt that sent shockwaves through Europe.
At least 47 people have died after continued heavy rain and flooding in northern Afghanistan, an official said on Sunday, a day after a similar number were killed in a central province.
Russian airstrikes killed at least ten people and injured many others in a recreation area just outside Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday, local officials said.