According to European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik, Turkey still desires full membership in the E.U. despite a series of ugly disputes with European nations and, in fact, will settle for nothing less than full membership.
“The EU should support Turkey during this difficult period in the region by understanding the reasons for the fight against terrorism, by providing visa liberalization and especially by accelerating the accession process,” Celik told the Turkey-E.U. Joint Advisory Committee on Tuesday, as reported by Hurriyet Daily News.
“Celik praised the decision to observe a one-minute silence” to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On a down note, he said the latest opportunity to find a solution to Turkey’s dispute with Greece over Cyprus has been missed. Celik insisted his country took a “positive approach” during talks in Switzerland, but the Greeks say Turkey scuttled the talks by insisting on keeping troops stationed in Cyprus instead of yielding to an international peacekeeping force.
As Hurriyet notes, Cyprus has been a stumbling block in Turkey’s bid for E.U. membership for over a decade. The Europeans are also upset with Turkey’s recent constitutional changes, which make Erdogan too powerful. There have been calls for the European Union to formally suspend Turkey’s application for membership over these authoritarian measures.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker recently warned that, if Turkey reimposes the death penalty, as Erdogan has said he might do for accused participants in the coup against him, it would “slam the door to E.U. membership.”
Erdogan and his ministers have also directed some ugly rhetoric at Turkey’s prospective colleagues in Europe, insulting them as fascists and Nazis because they refused to allow Turkish ministers to stage political rallies on their soil. When Turkey’s prospects for E.U. membership dimmed at the end of 2016, Erdogan threatened to open the floodgates for a new wave of Middle Eastern refugees. Last week, Erdogan accused Europe of wasting Turkey’s time and insisted his country is “able to stand on its own two feet.”
Turkish officials sometimes blame the July 2016 coup attempt for derailing its entry into the European Union but the Europeans, in turn, cite Erdogan’s heavy-handed response to the coup as a reason not to admit Turkey, amid allegations that Erdogan is using the coup as an excuse to crack down on political dissent.
A survey of the Turkish people recently showed that over 75 percent still desire E.U. membership, but only 36 percent think it will ever happen.
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