Following the US decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Turkey may not ratify the agreement unless the European Union keeps its promise of providing funds to help Turkey comply with the deal, the Diken news website reported on Monday.
Erdoğan, who held a press conference after the G20 summit in Germany on Friday and Saturday, said Turkey was not willing to ratify the deal if the funds promised to developing countries were not provided.
Bringing to mind the promise made by former President of France François Hollande, Erdoğan said, “So we said if this happens, the agreement will be passed by Parliament. But otherwise it won’t.”
Turkey was among the first to sign the deal, which was ratified by 147 countries promising to decrease greenhouse has emission levels and fight climate change.
US President Donald Trump said in June that he was pulling out of the agreement.
Still, G20 countries and the EU expressed their support for the deal and renewed their commitment to the climate change action in the final statement of the summit in Hamburg.