Is Turkey’s EU integration over?

By Salah Bayaziddi

he urged more support. Clearly, this is an indication that, while Turkey seems to be so busy in pursuing its regional foreign policy and passion for becoming a regional superpower, its bid for an old dream of membership in the EU should be considered strong and alive.

This is also against all recent frequent remarks of AKP government officials who claim their country is in a better economic and political position without joining the EU. Indeed, since the rise of the Islamist-oriented regime of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2002, Turkey has undergone a new social and political transformation and it seems the new Turkish elites have been trying hard to expand their sphere of economic and political influence in the Middle East and Islamic world in general in new ways.

Therefore, while many Turkish political observers have argued that it is natural for Turkey to come to this conclusion and that it might not need the economic and political benefits of the EU as badly as it thought it did, what?s the analysis of Erdogan?s official trip to two arch-enemy states (Germany and France),which openly opposed Turkey?s membership into the EU?

Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Germany to speak plainly about Turkey?s prospects of joining the EU, but clearly the Turkish Prime Minister?s remarks came at a time when German and French resistance to Turkish EU membership is seen by Ankara to have reduced Turkey-EU relations to a new low.

In the past, EU officials used to criticize Turkey on the grounds that it has illegally occupied a large portion of Cyprus, and that it resorted to the military option over the Kurdish issue and did not attempt a political solution; up to these days, none of these obstacles has yet to be removed.

Instead,the situation gets worse. Turkey?s active regional policies have created more problems and difficulties in front of this country?s long-standing bid to join the EU. Clearly, it seems the AKP is fantasizing about a new foreign policy approach, and all of this change of heart with its previous allies becomes more obvious following the new political and social upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East.

As a part of this new stand, the Turkish state became more aggressive toward Israel when Turkey expelled Israel’s ambassador and suspended all military agreements over its refusal to apologize for last year’s raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. This should not be consider as one isolated incident in the recent Turkish foreign policy because it is a continuation of a pattern that started in recent years.

In line with this above argument, the European Union has all logical reasons to become more skeptical about Turkey?s ability or even willingness to apply these precondition standards before joining the ?European Club.? As a clear sign of this slow process, accession talks began in 2005 and have moved very slowly.

There are 35 negotiating chapters; 13 have been started, only one has concluded while 18 have been frozen. While Turkey has not been moving toward a final solution for its long-standing problems, it has been getting more involved in adventurous regional foreign policy in the recent years.It has been clearly obvious that the U.S. and other major Western powers are closely monitoring Turkey’s stance toward Hamas in Palestine.

Indeed, Turkey was the only pro-American ally to invite the leaders of this fundamental organization that has been declared a terrorist organization to its capital, and it outraged Israel and the U.S. at the time. The situation could have spiraled out of control when Turkey threatened Israel with unprecedented action after Israeli forces attacked an aid vessel, killing 15 peace activists headed to Gaza two and half years ago. As a clear sign of defiance, the Turkish government announced that the time had come for Israel to pay for its stance that sees it above international laws and disregards human conscience.

When Erdogan complained during his visit that Turkey feels let down by Germany for a bid into the EU that faces broad skepticism, he ignored or rather minimized the destructive effects of the AKP?s regional foreign policy over the issue of membership in the EU. As part of a more aggressive policy in the region, Turkey has taken a more hard-line stand toward Cyprus, a full member of the EU.

This new round of conflict started when the government of Cyprus begun drilling despite Turkish warnings in an escalating row over ownership of natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean. The drilling row has become heightened amid Turkey?s already simmering crisis with Israel, which, according to the Cyprus media’s unconfirmed reports, sent unmanned surveillance aircraft to fly over the drilling operation in a gesture of solidarity with Cyprus.

Adding complexity to the situation, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Irsen Kucuk (only recognized by Turkey) vowed to make every effort and show every kind of resistance to ?protect our rights and interests? and announced the formation of a special commission to monitor developments.

Yet another problem between Turkey and Germany?the same as with most EU members–is the Kurdish conflict and more clearly the PKK issue, with Turkish politicians repeatedly attacking the German government and accusing Berlin of indirectly protecting the Kurdish militants. “Twice as many PKK members live in Germany as in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq,” claimed Cemil Cecik, speaker of the Turkish Parliament and a party colleague of Erdogan, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

It was just last month that the Turkish Prime Minister himself criticized German foundations and accused them of funding the PKK. On the other hand, the EU criticizes Turkey on the grounds that it has resorted to the military option over the Kurdish issue and not attempted a political solution. The Union also criticizes Turkey for not applying to the Kurdish minority the Copenhagen criteria regarding the protection of minorities.

The Turkish approach to the Kurdish issue seems to have been incompatible with the Copenhagen criteria, which requires that Turkey should fully recognize cultural identity and cultural diversity, not least in the case of Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin.

Therefore, it is reasonable to argue since the rise of the AKPin 2002, Turkey has moved toward a more adventurous foreign policy; clearly this has caused additional problems for its EUbid. At the moment, as a growing regional power, Turkey is starting to flex its muscles. Erdogan was hailed during a visit to the region following the Arab revolts in Tunisia and Egypt and became the symbolic head of the freedom movement.

The moderate Islamists who were victorious in the recent Tunisian elections model their Islamic political framework on that of his governing AKP. Erdogan recently made his country’s opinion of its own power unmistakably clear: “Our interests range from the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean,” he said.In the end, another and probably one of the most growing areas of conflict between Turkey and the EU should point to the Middle East conflict.

While Germany and other members of the EU have called on the UN to recognize a Palestinian state, Germany–one of the most powerful members of the EU–voted against Palestinian membership of UNESCO last week. Therefore, it seems the Prime Minister and other AKP government officials are fully aware of the reasons behind the luck of support of Germany?s government for Turkey?s EU accession, but they are continuing to criticize Germany?s and other EU governments? integration policies. Nevertheless, it should be viewed as a logical outcome when the Turkish PM argued that Germany has ?abandoned? Turkey on the issue of EU accession.