Contemporary Turkey Eric Jordan

International Relations 2010-11-21

The European Union, Turkey and

lands have been warring. The Middle East, meanwhile, has developed its own culture of Islamic

heritage and over time the European region has developed its own western culture. Caught in a

tug of war is the nation of Turkey. This large nation spans the physical divide between the two

regions. With borders touching Syria and Iraq on the east and western borders reaching to

Bulgaria and Greece, Turkey finds itself in an awkward place. Europe is in a state of expansion

and development with the enlargement of the European Union, which possibly includes

Turkey.1

Turkey has had a long history with Europe and the European Union that stretches back

many years. First connections with Europe came just after the end of the Second World War

with Turkey being including in the Marshall Plan and the Council of Europe in 1949. In 1952,

Turkey joined the United States and most of Western Europe in the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO) under political pressure to choose a side during the Cold War. 2 It would

become an associate member of the Western European Union. As early as 1959, Turkey tried

to gain entrance into what is now the European Union, then known as the European Economic

Community (EEC), but was denied. Instead Turkey received a special ‘ Agreement Creating an

Association between The Republic of Turkey and the European Economic Community’, also known as

the Ankara Agreement of 1963. This agreement came into effect the following year on 12 December

1
Arikan Harun, Turkey and the EU. Ashgate. England. 2003.
2
Ibid
Contemporary Turkey Eric Jordan
International Relations 2010-11-21

1964. The Ankara Agreement sought to integrate Turkey into a customs union with the EEC while

acknowledging the final goal of membership. Working toward this goal, in November 1970, a further

protocol called the "Additional Protocol" established a timetable for the abolition of tariffs and quotas

on goods traded between Turkey and the EEC. 3 During the reign of Ozal, Turkey issued its application to

join the formal European Community on April 14, 1987. The European Commission responded in 1989

stating that Turkey’s bid will have to wait till a more favorable time, citing the Cyprus, Civil Rights and its

relationship with Greece issues. This position was confirmed again in the Luxembourg European Council

of 1997 in which accession talks were started with central and eastern European states and Cyprus, but

not Turkey. Despite the rejections, Turkey continued to move forward and make improvements

throughout the 1990’s. Turkey proceeded with a closer integration with the European Union by agreeing

to a customs union in 1995. Furthermore, the Helsinki European Council of 1999 proved a milestone as

the EU recognized Turkey as a candidate on equal footing with other potential candidates. 4

The next major meeting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2002 when the European

Council said, “the EU would open negotiations with Turkey 'without delay' if the European Council in

December 2004, on the basis of a report and a recommendation from the Commission, decides that

Turkey fulfills the Copenhagen political criteria.” 5 These negotiations finally began in 2005, but

immediately met resistance from political movements in other countries such as Austria, Germany, and

France stated they would perform a referendum in their country on Turkey’s membership. Meanwhile,

Turkey’s bid was bogged down by numerous domestic and external problems. The issue of Cyprus

continues to be a major obstacle to negotiations with Turkey being the sole country that recognizes the

Republic of Northern Cyprus. European officials have commented on the slowdown in Turkish reforms

which, combined with the Cyprus problem, led the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rahn in March

3
Ibid
4
Laciner, Sadat. European Union with Turkey. International Strategic Research Organization(ISRO). Ankara. 2005.
5
Ibid
Contemporary Turkey Eric Jordan
International Relations 2010-11-21

2007 to warn of an approaching ‘train crash’ in the negotiations. By December 2006, 8 of 35 areas of

discussion were stalled or closed. Once all these areas have met European Union requirements, only

then will the EU vote to accept Turkey’s full membership. The vote must be unanimous in order for

Turkey to completely join.6

Let us begin this by looking at what the EU wants from Turkey. The criteria for EU membership

adopted by the Copenhagen European Council require that a candidate country has achieved stability of

institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and respect for and protection of

minorities; has a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure

and market forces within the Union; and has the ability to take on the obligations of membership,

including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union. 7

At this point it is important to notice that there are sometimes substantial differences between

the issues negotiated between Turkey and the EU and the problems perceived by the European

population. Nevertheless they deserve attention, since public opinion not infrequently has great

influence on policy making and eventually part of Europe’s people may have their say in a referendum

on the issue. Although the hopes and fears of another enlargement differ Europe-wide, there are few

that dominate the discussion as much as the subject of culture and religion. 8

      To give a country as big as Turkey, with a predominantly Muslim population, access to Europe fuels

many fears, especially in the light of the common association nowadays of Islam with terrorism and the

suppression of women. Basically, it scares the conservative Europeans.   Although the EU is admittedly

often referred to the ‘Christian Club’, it is certainly not based on religious values, and faith has never

been an accession criteria. What’s more, amongst many other different faithful in Europe there are
6
Ibid
7
Saygilioglu, Nevzat. Turkey in the World on the to European Union. Harman Ofsat Basim ve Yayincilik Ltd.
Ankara. 2005.
8
E.J. Zurcher and H van der Linden: Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy. The European Union,
Turkey and Islam. Amsterdam University Press. 2004.
Contemporary Turkey Eric Jordan
International Relations 2010-11-21

already 12 million Muslims mostly in France and the Balkans and most remarkably, the EU motto is

“United in Diversity”!9

However, Turkey can be criticized also for issues in dealing with religion. In practice, all religious

action in Turkey is under the immediate control of the State Directorate of Religious Affairs, meaning

that the state regulates religious (especially Muslim) institutions, but also supports them. The practice of

faith for minorities is especially impeded by the harsh restrictions that make it almost impossible for

non-Muslim religions like Christians or Jews to build churches or synagogues in Turkey. Similarly the

religious subgroup of the Alevis is still not recognized as a Muslim minority in the country, although they

constitute about 25% of Turkey’s population. 10

Further insufficiencies can be detected in the areas of democratization, law and economy which

are perhaps the most critical issues because it legitimizes their actions and gives a common political

basis that unites all member states. Turkey has notably improved in the area of democratization after

World War II. It introduced a parliamentary democracy based on a government elected by vote of

confidence and holds periodically repeated free and fair elections where the citizen’s majority

determines the executive power. Furthermore, since its foundation as a republic it has developed the

above mentioned strong sense of secularism, dividing church and state. However in recent years, ruling

pro-Islam parties such as the AKP have sparked suspension in European circles of political Islam in

Turkey, especially when laws such as making divorce a criminal offense were being initiated but failed to

pass. Such a law would be inacceptable for the EU because it constitutes a major interference with the

personal freedom of the individual. Prime Minister Erdogan’s answer to the European uproar was “We

are Turks. The EU has no right to interfere in our internal affairs”. Not only does such a statement affect

9
Ibid
10
Ibid
Contemporary Turkey Eric Jordan
International Relations 2010-11-21

the cooperative and ambitious image Turkey built up in preceding years, but it also results in a loss of

trust on the side of the European Union, which invested a lot of means into the accessing country. 11

Another area of contention is Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Although slightly changed in

April 2008, is a major limitation to the citizen’s freedom of expression as it aims at the prohibition to

insult the Turkish nation inside or outside Turkey. Freedom House reports, that although cases

concerning this article will be supervised by the Minister of Justice, the European Union demands

boundless freedom of speech and its correct implementation, which has not yet been reached. 12

Concerning the democratic separation of powers, the military still has notable influence, since

officers sometimes enter the political process in defense of Kemal Atatürk’s legacy. Military coups have

been conducted four times since the foundation of the Republic in Turkey (1960, 1971, 1980), the most

recent in 1997 as a half-coup. . Although the military is an important part of a state, providing security

and power, and responsible to the state, it is against the principles of democracy that the military

actively influences a country’s politics. However, it seems Turkey may finally have reached a point of

stability were military coups won’t be called upon again. 13 Turkey has also the second largest NATO army

which would provide a huge increase in EU military power.

Major problems in the area of law exist concerning gender equality, freedom of speech,

minority rights and freedom of religion. Comparative examples illustrate well the remaining gap

between Turkish and European standards: In Turkey it is an official offence to acknowledge the massacre

of the Armenians, while in Europe it is an official offence to deny the holocaust. Gaelic has been

declared an official EU language, while minorities such as the Kurds still have difficulties using, teaching

11
Glyptis, Leda-Agapi Glyptis, “The Cost of Rapprochement: Turkey's Erratic EU Dream as a Clash of Systemic
Values,” Turkish Studies, 6, 3, 2005, 401- 420
12
Glyptis, Leda-Agapi Glyptis, “The Cost of Rapprochement: Turkey's Erratic EU Dream as a Clash of Systemic
Values,” Turkish Studies, 6, 3, 2005, 401- 420
13
Ibid
Contemporary Turkey Eric Jordan
International Relations 2010-11-21

and broadcasting their own language. From the latter example and the Freedom House reports

emanate, that legally the foundations for human rights are laid, but there is still considerable lack in

their implementation and further progress is required in order to eliminate EU concern in this respect. 14

Economics is Turkey’s strongest category with above average growth in the 25 years and rapidly

growing. However, it is crucial to enhance Turkey’s economic stability and to sustain the current growth.

Moreover, the country experienced a sharp rise in inflation and external debt over the past decades and

needs to provide the EU with insurance that it won’t be another Greece. Many Europeans are nervous

about the predicted great influx of Turkish immigrants into their countries if Turkey were the join the

Union.15 In the end, Turkey is light years ahead of countries such as Romania and Bulgaria which are in

the EU and it is much more stable than that of Greece and other debt crippled states making Turkey’s

economy a strong point.

Lastly, the big problems over Cyprus and the Kurds loom still. The Turkish government occupies

northern Cyprus ever since the invasion in 1974 under the umbrella of protecting the Turkish minority

there. It has established transport and custom barriers for Greek Cypriot citizens and diplomatic

negotiations have so far been without success. Since Cyprus already is an EU member, the dispute will

have to be settled before Turkish accession, seeing that it is intolerable for the EU to have two of its

members engaged in such a conflict. The Kurds constituting about 20% of the Turkey’s population have

already gained increasingly more rights within the last years (there used to be a program for forced

assimilation), but still encounter difficulties. These have been mentioned before and doubtlessly require

improvement, but the greater problem is formed by extreme separatist movements of the PKK in

eastern Turkey, striving for an independent Kurdish state causing many deaths.

14
Laciner, Sadat. European Union with Turkey. International Strategic Research Organization(ISRO). Ankara.
2005.

15
Ibid
Contemporary Turkey Eric Jordan
International Relations 2010-11-21

After so many years of trying, the fact that the EU opened accession negotiations with Turkey in

many respects was also an act of recognition to what Turkey reached economically, politically and legally

since its application for full membership in 1987. But however great this progress might be, as this paper

has highlighted, it is not sufficient. At least not yet. Deficiencies in almost all areas relevant for accession

are striking, some more and some less.   After postponing Turkey’s accession for more than 40 years

now and regarding the acknowledgements made by both sides, a rejection by the EU would forever

damage EU-Turkey relations that have persisted in a friendly manner over so many decades. In the end

the best and most often drawn on alternative to a full Turkish membership might be a privileged

partnership, in which Turkey cooperation in the areas of economy, education and environment, to

extend the customs union to a free trade area and to give Turkey a voice in Europe’s foreign, security

and defense policy. No matter what happens in the coming years, the Turkish people should hold their

head high as they are on the edge of becoming the first Middle Eastern, Muslim, politically and

economically stable and democratic world power.