Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Saturday that the European Union has gone back to the state prior to its formation in 1945, at the end of World War II, as a result of violations of the basic principles of democracy. Speaking at a program on the Çanakkale victory in Antalya, he also called on Europe to "work together to stop the very dangerous trend."

With the recent row between Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands still at the fore of diplomatic discussions in Europe, Minister Çavuşoğlu asserted that the cornerstones of European values; namely, human rights, democracy and the freedom of speech, were largely ignored in the case of Turkey's requests to meet Turkish nationals living abroad, to discuss the upcoming April 16 referendum in Turkey.

In his speech, the foreign minister claiming that Europe was regressing back to its pre-World War II state, said, "This is a disaster for Europe and European people. We [Turkey] will survive no matter what... Let us work together to stop the dangerous trend."

Also underlining that Turkey has the power to stand alone in the face of all kinds of crises, Çavuşoğlu said, "Turkey cannot be controlled by other countries," and made a call of diplomacy to other countries.

"Turkey can have cooperative agreements with any friendly countries."

Speaking about the constitutional amendment package in his speech, Çavuşoğlu said the presidential system that part of the constitutional amendment package, was an indispensable renewal for Turkey.

He indicated that the political instabilities and failed coalition governments, experienced prior to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) rule, especially in 1991 and 2002, prove that political stability is all the more crucial for Turkey's development as a nation, adding that Turkey became poorer by the night during its politically unstable days, when political crisis were sparked due to a two-headed system that did major damage to the Turkish state.