Europe’s petty prejudice

Hasan Suroor

IMAGINE you apply for membership of a club and are kept hanging for an eternity with no prospect of a hearing even as less qualified candidates are waved in. “What on earth is going on?” you’ll wonder and expect to be forgiven for conjuring up conspiracy theories. Shorn of the boring bits, this in a nutshell is the story of Turkey’s long, frustrating, and seemingly doomed quest for the membership of the EU. It has become Europe’s longest-running political soap and, in the latest twist, Ankara has been effectively told to give up the ghost. 

Last week, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and Europe’s most powerful politician who practically runs the EU, said she was contemplating recommending suspension, even termination, of Turkey’s membership process. She railed against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his sweeping crackdown on critics following last year’s attempted coup against his government. The real reason behind her fury, though, was that among an estimated 50,000 people he has detained there are 12 German citizens. Turkey, she warned, was “moving away from the path of the rule of law at a very fast speed” which was incompatible with European values and it would force Germany to “rethink” relations with Ankara.

“I will suggest this takes place at the EU meeting in October — discuss future relations with Turkey, including the question of suspending or ending talks on accession,” she said.

Merkel’s outburst — quite out of character with her famously cautious temperament — caused outrage not only in Turkey, but also stunned some of her European allies, notably France despite its own not-too-rosy view of Erdogan’s Turkey. The view from Paris and other EU capitals is that whatever Turkey’s sins it’s the wrong time to alienate it  given it’s important role in stemming the tide of Iraqi and Syrian migrants headed for Europe. Since last year’s refugee crisis that saw Europe overwhelmed with refugees, with Germany alone taking in more than a million, there has been a significant drop in migrant numbers thanks to the measures introduced by Turkey.

Berlin is being advised “strategic patience”, to calm down and put up with Erdogan while he’s doing Europe’s dirty work for it. As the French President Emmanuel Macron pointed out, “I want to avoid a split because it’s  (Turkey) a vital partner in many crises we all face, notably the immigration challenge and the terrorist threat.” Estonia’s foreign minister Sven Mikser had the same message, “We have to tread very carefully.” As did Finland and Lithuania: “The (accession) process and engagement must continue” to keep Turkey in good humour.

Ironically, it was Merkel who agreed the deal with Erdogan whereby, among other things, Europe was to give six billion euros to Turkey and waive visa requirements for Turkish tourists in return for its help with the refugee crisis. Her threat to suspend/terminate Turkey’s membership process shows the extent to which the relations between the two sides have deteriorated after a series of bruising controversies in recent months. After the hostile reaction to her statement, Merkel has sought to row back. It is being suggested that she said it in the heat of an election debate (Germany goes to the polls next week) with her socialist party rival Martin Schulz who is opposed to Turkey’s application. But the damage has been done; the message has gone out that Turkey is to be kept out. One senior Turkish official said it was clear “they no longer want the marriage”.

It was in 1987 that Turkey applied for EU membership, or rather that of its predecessor body, the European Economic Community. It took 12 years before its candidature for full  membership was officially recognised; and another six before what in EU-speak is known as “accession” talks began. Poor Turks. They thought they were finally there, little knowing that more than a decade later they would still be “there”! While the Turks have been cooling their heels, there has been an exponential expansion of the EU with new members trooping in by the truckloads. Most of the former communist Eastern European and Baltic states are now part of the EU despite their obvious incompatibility with its political culture and the uneven levels of their economic development. 

Arguably, Turkey has a greater claim as an old member of the transatlantic NATO alliance and several important EU organisations, including the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Moreover, historically, it has had a long relationship with Europe since the days of Ottoman Empire.

So, why has Turkey been left out while latecomers like Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Croatia — all palpably less qualified than Turkey on a range of economic and political criteria — have been let in? There are several factors, including Turkey’s own obduracy in relation to the long-running dispute over recognising Cyprus. An immediate hurdle is said to be its reluctance to honour an agreement to open up its ports and airports to Greek Cypriots. This has given Cyprus, an EU member, a handle to veto the membership process. Under EU rules just one veto by a full member is enough to torpedo a decision, and members use it liberally to  settle scores with their political rivals. So, until Turkey does something to resolve its problems with Cyprus there’s little likelihood of any progress.

The other obstacle is EU’s dissatisfaction with the pace of democratic political reforms in Turkey, and its human rights record. Reforms have not only stalled lately but gone into reverse gear. Erdogan has become more authoritarian and is seen to be turning Turkey into a conservative Islamic country abandoning its liberal values. The real elephant in the room, however, is that Turkey is a Muslim country while the EU is a “Christian club”, as one commentator put it, and they don’t want it amid their midst. Turks are convinced that they would never be accepted as full members, even if they were to do everything that is demanded of them.

Nicholas Sarkozy, former French President, made no pretence that there was no place for a Muslim Turkey on Europe’s top table. Ruling out full membership, he offered a “special partnership”. Others, including Germany, have spoken of “privileged partnership”. Erdogan has been blowing hot and cold. After threatening to pull out of the membership process, he’s now proposing “Turkish coffee diplomacy”. The truth is the door is firmly shut, and Turkey should stop humiliating itself.

The writer is a London-based commentator