TEHRAN -- Bulent Korucu, the director of the Istanbul-based Cihan news agency, said here on Saturday that Turkish citizens are no longer enthusiastic about joining the European Union.

In Turkey, the major red lines for the media are religious values, reports about terrorists and armed opposition groups, and issues that could threaten national security, Korucu explained during a visit to the offices of the Mehr News Agency and the Tehran Times.
However, in other areas, the Turkish media enjoy full freedom, he added.
“There is so much freedom of speech in Turkey that when, some time ago, the Turkish president sued a newspaper for printing a caricature of him, the court came to the defense of the paper, declaring that printing caricatures is not illegal,” he noted.
However, the law bans insults to the values of any religion, he stated.
On the views of Turkish citizens on accession to the European Union, he said that until two years ago, the people were very interested in joining the EU in order to improve their economic status.
However, since that time, the people have become very doubtful about the possibility of accession to the EU, and they believe the Europeans are trying to keep them outside Europe’s gate through the imposition of conditions, he stated.
The EU’s support of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has reduced the people’s inclination toward Europe, but the current Turkish government is still making efforts to join the EU, Korucu said