BRUSSELS (AA) - Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said that Turkey did not need EU, but EU needed Turkey.

Caglayan, who spoke during 2013 European Seafood Exposition (ESE) in Brussels, accused EU of being hypocrite and insincere.

Caglayan said that Turkey was the first country which had been pursuing its EU full membership negotiations for 50 years, and had been in customs union for 18 years.

Turkey does not need the EU, but EU needs Turkey strongly, said Caglayan, adding that while one of each three or four people in Spain and Greece was unemployed, Turkey, on the contrary to Europe, employed five million more people in the past four years.

Regarding 2013 ESE, Caglayan said that 15 Turkish companies were attending the fair.

World seafood export volume was 120 billion USD, said Caglayan, adding that Turkey's share in this figure was 546 million USD.