President Tayyip Erdogan said that Türkiye could "part ways" with the European Union if necessary with its hopes to join stalling amid criticism of Ankara's efforts to address democracy and rule of law concerns.

He secured a pledge from Brussels to resurrect the membership talks first started in 2005 in exchange for lifting its blockade of Sweden's drive to join the NATO military alliance in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the EU's enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi traveled to Türkiye, saying that while membership had "huge potential", the bloc needed to see action on human rights issues before talks resume.

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Erdogan was asked about the contents of a European Parliament report adopted earlier this week, that said Türkiye's accession process with the 27-member bloc cannot resume under current circumstances and called for the EU to explore "a parallel and realistic framework" for its ties with Ankara.

"The European Union is trying to distance itself from us," Erdogan said at Istanbul's Ataturk airport before flying to New York for the UN General Assembly. "We will make our evaluations against these developments and if necessary, we can part ways with the EU."

Erdogan has made mending torn ties with Western allies a priority after winning a difficult election in May following years of tensions after his government launched a sweeping crackdown in the wake of a failed coup in July 2016, sparking accusations of human rights abuses.

During his trip, Varhelyi said "there are very clear criteria set out also by the European Council that would need to be addressed." 

He added: "These criteria are related to democracy and the rule of law and, for example, a credible roadmap for moving forward in these reforms."

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