Turkey isn’t going to change its anti-terrorism laws in exchange for the visa-free regime for the Turkish citizens in the European Union, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated Friday.

"We'll go our way, you go yours," he said, Imterfax reports, citing BBC.  

The EU demands Turkey to narrow down its rather wide definition of terrorism to comply with the EU standards.

However, the Turkish President stated that the country cannot fulfill these conditions due to the serious threat of terrorist acts. According to him, the present harsh laws are necessary for the struggle against the Kurdish militants and other jihadists operating in Turkey.  

Nevertheless, Erdoğan’s critics say that he is using those harsh laws for the struggle against his own political opponents, as well as for silencing the critics and opposition journalists.  

The country’s PM Ahmet Davutoglu, who took active part in the talks with the EU on visa-free regime, earlier resigned.