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.
Qatar's prime minister said on Sunday that efforts to reach a new ceasefire in Gaza have made some progress but an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war remains elusive.
A huge blast most likely caused by the explosion of chemical materials killed at least 18 people and injured more than 700 on Saturday at Iran's biggest port, Bandar Abbas, Iranian state media reported.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have sounded the alarm over severe funding shortfalls that are hindering life-saving humanitarian aid in countries including Nigeria, Burundi, and Colombia.
A number of people were killed and multiple others were injured in Vancouver after a vehicle drove into a crowd at a Filipino street festival in the western Canadian city, police said on Saturday.