IKV PRESS RELEASE

TURKEY’S EU PERSPECTIVE: THE EU SHOULD NOT CLOSE THE DOOR ON TURKEY

Recently, Turkey and EU relations have encountered a serious crisis due to a growing divergence between the two following the July 15 attempted coup. While the EU became increasingly critical of the drastic measures adopted in Turkey under the state of emergency, Turkish leaders voiced their resentment against Europe due to its failure to stand beside the Turkish leadership in its fight against terror. The lack of effective communication and understanding between Turkey and the EU exacerbated the rift between them resulting from 10 years of stalemate in the accession negotiations and the failure to realize visa-free travel for Turkish citizens which was part of the refugee deal agreed on March 18 this year.

Escalation in the crisis has come to such a point that the European Parliament will hold a debate on the question of suspending the accession negotiations this week and a resolution to that effect will be voted on Thursday. Even if the EP votes in favour of suspending negotiations, this will be a non-binding resolution voicing the approach of the Parliament and not the EU as a whole. Still the fact that relations have come to such a point attests to a serious crisis which should be effectively addressed by the parties.

In the meantime, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke about Turkey’s probable membership to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and accused the EU of keeping Turkey waiting for such a long time. He talked of a deadline until the end of the year after which Turkey will end its cooperation with the EU on the refugee issue and a possible referendum to be held regarding Turkey’s relationship with the EU. Erdogan has a point is arguing that accession negotiations are not sustainable without a clear perspective of membership. On the other hand, Turkey is also partly to blame since it diverged from the EU anchor and receded from the reform agenda.

IKV-Economic Development Foundation has been founded in 1965 to study and contribute to Turkey’s relations with the then EEC and has been specialized on EU-Turkey relations since then. As the only non-governmental organization of its kind dedicated to Turkey’s EU perspective, we would like to call upon all related parties to avert the further escalation of the crisis and revitalize Turkey-EU relations.

Suspending Turkey’s EU accession negotiations would be the worst kind of action that the EU could take at the moment. Turkey is faced with an atrocious war on its Southern borders, has lived through a coup attempt perpetrated by Gülenist elements in its military, faced with the task of reorganizing its bureaucracy, judiciary and security forces and is undergoing economic volatility while hosting nearly 3 million refugees. It would be fundamentally wrong of the EU to severe relations with a country faced with multiple challenges, a country which is playing an important role for the stability and security of Europe. The EU should stop debating whether or not to suspend relations and instead focus on how to engage Turkey and reignite the EU anchor for Turkey’s ongoing development and stability.

Ayhan Zeytinoğlu
IKV Chairman