IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu condemned the fact that Turkey’s EU accession process has been used as a propaganda tool within the German political campaign ahead of the general elections. Furthermore, Zeytinoğlu indicated that the declarations realised by both the leaders of the CDU and SPD parties in the context of a TV debate regarding their support for the termination of Turkey’s EU accession negotiations are utterly wrong. IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu noted that Turkey’s EU accession negotiations are not with solely Germany but with 28 (27 following Brexit) Member States and these very negotiations are being managed in full respect to the EU’s institutional identity:

“I would like to take this opportunity to say that I found profoundly odd the fact that the various leaders of the main political parties in Germany are expressing their commitment to stop accession negotiations between Turkey and the EU in the context of the general elections in Germany. This approach is not only unsettling for Turkey but for the other 27 EU Member States as well. German politicians and Chancellor Merkel first and foremost seem to imply that they are the boss of the EU which is in sheer contradiction with the principles of equality and democracy uphold by the EU.  Indeed, one should remind at this juncture that the decision to stop accession negotiations with Turkey can only be taken by the Member States through qualified majority. Germany is not the sole decision maker in that respect”.

Moreover, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu also referred to later statements of Merkel regarding the necessity to open channels of communication and dialogue with Turkey open and he underscored that such an approach is indeed the correct one to pursue. Zeytinoğlu indicated that such statements lose importance when put in contrast with those of the previous day. In that light, he called upon both the EU and Germany to adopt a more coherent position in their respective relations with Turkey:

 “Yesterday’s statements by Chancellor Merkel where she highlighted the importance of dialogue between the parties are satisfactory. Nonetheless, one should note that the fact that such contradictory statements have been realised in such a short span of time shows a rather inconsistent approach towards Turkey. Indeed, the statement by Chancellor Merkel that “Turkey should not become an EU Member” is profoundly unfortunate. One should further note that before Merkel actually came to power, in 2005, she had already uttered statements expressing her opposition to Turkey’s EU membership, thus one can add that it is debatable to what extent she has conducted a fair and objective towards Turkey. It is of utmost importance that the political conflicts in Germany should not further overshadow the EU. The EU should pursue an open door policy towards candidate countries within the framework of their obligation of abiding by the Copenhagen criteria. This is what one should expect from a global power. In the opposite case, one can argue that the EU would become less effective and influential and it could be said that this would lead to negative results for the EU, its neighbourhood and global politics as well”.