Turkey and the EU
The decades-long process of Turkey's accession to the European Union is still causing polarisation of positions not only within the Union but in Turkey itself. In this subject euinside aims at providing a territory for debates that could assist citizens and politicians in forming their positions on the issue "for" or "against" Turkey's membership in the EU.
Donald Tusk, Boyko Borissov | © Council of the EUThe EU-Turkey Summit in Varna Showed Dialogue with Erdogan Is Impossible
If 2017 was the year of common European defence, 2018 emerges as the year of common foreign policy. The worsening conflict in the Middle East, trade shoot-outs, tightening of the illiberal belt around the EU, as well as the transformation of key western allies into adversaries are factors that a ...
| © Turkey PresidencyTurkey Has Become a Semi-Candidate Country for EU Membership
The EU has finally officially recognised the obvious, namely that Turkey no longer fulfils the criteria to be a candidate for EU membership. The Union, however, is divided on what to do next - whether to formally end the negotiations with the oldest candidate for membership or just to announce t ...
Elmar Brok | © European ParliamentIn Its Current State Turkey Cannot Become EU Member
One of the first subjects the European Parliament tackled after its summer break was the situation in Turkey after the coup attempt of July 15. Cause for the debate in the EP’s foreign affairs committee was the visit to Turkey of the committee’s boss Elmar Brok (EPP, German ...
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Ömer Çelik | © Council of the EUTurkey's EU Path Entering a Dead-end Street
Following the failed coup in Turkey, the European Union keeps advancing into the Hamletian dilemma – should Turkey be part of the Union, or not – and realises more and more that there is far more than one answer to this question. The problems are on several levels and a large porti ...
Daniel Mitov and colleagues in FAC | © Council of the EUBulgarian Foreign Minister: The EU Was Late with Turkey
The European Union was late paying attention to Turkey’s warnings about the problematic migration situation there and the fact that the EU would also be affected. And these warnings had been coming for a very long time, but the EU missed them, said Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov i ...
Ahmet Davutoglu, Boyko Borissov | © Council of the EUNot the Tango, Nor the Macarena, Rather a Mambo Number 5 in Europe
Jean-Claude Juncker loves using the metaphor of the tango. It is often part of his speech when he talks about negotiating with Great Britain about its remaining a part of the EU. He used it in the press conference after the end of the unique summit of the 28 EU member states and Turkey. To a que ...
Erdogan, Juncker | © European CommissionCongratulations, Dictator!
Election results in Turkey cemented the authoritarian governance of the country and stood the EU at a dilemma, which it has been trying to avoid for years – what to do with Turkey. The Union is facing two possibilities – one is choosing the attitude of European Commission President J ...
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Donald Tusk | © Council of the EUTurkey and EU - a Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed
In the best of relationships between friends there comes a time when friends say straight to each other’s faces what they don’t like about the friendship. Something like that happened between Turkey and the European Union on October 5th when Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Er ...
| © AKPTurkey Is Putinising
The news that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been elected president of Turkey at the first direct elections for head of state is not a surprise. The reaction of the EU and some member states, however, is. Although there is already enough proof that Erdogan is putinising his power, the EU came up with ...
| © euinsideHow EU Dropped Turkey's Reins (?)
Being strongly focused on itself, its future and present, the European Union often in the past decade was making one and the same error - it thought that the world was going round with the same speed as EU did around itself. Alas, the popping up of the Lisbon Treaty after almost 10 years of adju ...
| © Turkish Foreign MinistryThe Difficult Turkey
"No one is trying to put Turkey's negotiating process with the EU in the Guinness Book of Records, but efforts are needed by both sides", EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said responding to a question by a Turkish journalist on October 10th, after officially presenting the progress report ...
| © KremlinRussia and Turkey: Enemies in the Past, Conscious Partners in the Future*
Two former empires, often in conflict with one another, now have an opportunity for a common cooperation in the area of their interests and there already are rudimentary forms of such a cooperation, is the opinion of Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Centre. His analysis, although s ...
| © The Council of the European UnionTurkey’s Visa Liberalisation – Benefits and Problems
As euinside already wrote, at the 50th Association Council on 22 June, will was clearly demonstrated for the start of a process of liberalisation of the visa regime with Turkey. The Vienna based research institute ESI (European Stability Initiative), specialised in Balkan topics, sees nine reaso ...
| © EUThe First Bailout Presidency*
They say there is always a first time. It will be the first time for Cyprus and the European Union to merge into one extremely challenging presidency in the next 6 months. In a moment when the EU is trying to solve problems, caused by economic, social, cultural and political divergences, at the ...
| © EUThe EU and Turkey: Stronger Together
At a time when the EU faces economic challenges and continuing instability in the Middle East, our relationship with Turkey matters more than ever. "We are united in seeing the accession process as a vital framework for cooperation". Last week saw the 50th EU/Turkey Association Council, which de ...
| © euinsideEgemen Bagis: For Turkey It Is Not Important Who the Rotation EU Presidency Is
As of Sunday, Cyprus takes over the Presidency of the Council of the EU at a time when the relations between the Union and Turkey gain a new momentum. Months ago Turkey threatened that it would freeze work with the rotation presidency of the EU until there was progress in the relationship betwe ...
| © EUThe Road to Visa Free Regime with Turkey Is not an Open-Ended Process
For the first time in a while the tone in the exchanges between the European Union and Turkey is different and positive. The usual exchange of accusations for the lack of opened chapters and progress in the negotiations process is not there. But, still, we should not hasten with opening the cham ...
| © EUWhere Will Cyprus Be in 2025?
The feeling of a deja vu is getting stronger by the day with the approaching of the June European Council when it is expected the EU leaders to take again crucial strategic decisions about the future of the Union. If you remember, last October, on the eve of the October European Council, amidst ...
| © EUEgemen Bagis: Turkey and the EU Have a Common Future
It is probably different when you have a friend in the EU institutions. Of course, it is important what that friendship is based upon and also whether there are expectations this friendship to deliver something specific. This is what I was thinking while I listened to the brief press conference ...
| © European Parliament AudiovisualThe EP is About to Adopt a Critical Resolution on Turkey's Progress in 2011
Not respecting the fundamental rights and media freedom, as well as not solving the Cyprus issue are the main obstacles to Turkey's progress in its negotiations for full EU membership. This was clearly shown during the debate in the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the European Parliament on the ...
| © REGIERUNGonline/DenzelTurkey Wants to Complete Negotiations But It Is Not Clear if It Wants to Join the EU
"I am of the conviction that the ongoing debates about whether Turkey should be a member of the EU are most inappropriate. What is to be done is to give Turkey the opportunity to conclude its negotiations process. I do not know but when that day comes, I and the Turkish people, we may say we do ...
| © euinsideSpain's position on Turkish EU membership - based on interest
For English subtitles please press the CC button on the player. Spain as one of the biggest and influential EU member states supports in general Turkey but it never states that it supports a direct membership of Turkey in the EU. In other words, Madrid focuses on the candidacy itself rather tha ...
| © Adelina Marini | www.euinside.euDimitar Bechev: Turkey and the EU have no stimulus to unblock the negotiations
The facts in the negotiations process of EU with Turkey are brutal, commented Dimitar Bechev from the European Council on Foreign Relations, who was the second speaker in the discussion organised by euinside, the European Institute for Strategies and Policies|ESPI and StratCom on the topic Tur ...
| © euinsideVladimir Shopov: The accession negotiations process with Turkey cannot be controlled for too long
The process of accession negotiations with the European Union is a de facto suspension of sovereignty for the candidate country through legislative will. Bulgaria and many other countries that have already joined the EU or are in the process of accession, do not consider the process like this, ...
| © euinsideTurkey and the EU - between myths and reality
Is a mature and well motivated conversation about Turkey possible in Bulgaria, about Turkish EU membership? We were asking each other these questions while organising the discussion Turkey and the European Union: Formulas of a Common Future, together with Vladimir Shopov, Director of the Europea ...
| © euinsideIs a mature conversation about Turkey possible in Bulgaria
Quite often any conversation about Turkey in Bulgaria is reduced to the uncomfortable for both sides events of our common history. With a lot of emotion, little reason and without any perspective of the conversation. This is why we with the analysts from the newly established European Institute ...
| © euinsideTurkey's new self-confidence
"Turkey is the 6th largest economy in Europe. We are a G20 country. Last year we had 8.9% economic growth. In the first quarter of 2011 we have registered 11% growth. Our banks and bank system are very healthy. Turkey is a huge market. Regarding spending - we have a budget of 1 trillion dollars. ...
| © AKPImpressive electoral victory of the conservatives in Turkey
It is very rare in democratic elections a party to win an absolute majority three times in a row. And not only this but also to increase its results. This is the case with the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will be a prime minister of Turkey for a third consecut ...
| © European UnionEU-Turkey relations: fire and ice
Notably cooler was the news conference after the meeting of the EU-Turkey Association Council on Tuesday (April 19th), which was held right after that of EU-Croatia. If the Croatian authorities had received significant political support through the closure of two key chapters, the EU-Turkey rela ...
| © European CouncilEU: Turkey is on the right path but is still far away. Turkey: the EU is wrong!
It is very hard after 104 pages to asses whether the European Commission progress report on Turkey's accession to the EU is good for the country or bad. The reason is that in spite of the conclusions in it, nothing follows - neither an opening of the frozen 18 (of all 33) chapters, nor a hint of ...
| © A soul for EuropeProf. Paul Scheffer: Resolving the immigration problem means to redefine what it is to be a citizen
While asking my first question to Paul Scheffer, the voice of the imam from the nearby minaret sounded. In several seconds other mosques all around Istanbul joined the choir. Could this be a little quieter and less annoying, the Dutchman asks rhetoricaly, visibly irritated by the loud sound. Alt ...
| © euinsideWill Turkey enter Europe with an open face?
A wet and rainy morning in Istanbul. I notice that it is raining only after being on the street but it is too late to change the skirt and the high boots, so I go on. I realise my mistake when reaching the Galata Bridge, where the fine rain is mixed with wet spray carried by the strong wind. I a ...
| © euinsideFor Turkey the Norwegian scenario cannot be applied
What would happen if Turkey would officially announce that it could follow the "Norwegian scenario" with regard to its relations with the European Union? On the one hand this would cause multiple relief sighs from many Member States which out loud or silently are against 70-million Muslim Turkey ...
| © Audiovisual serviceFor Turkey EU membership is a strategic goal, how about the EU?
The European Union cannot be a global player unless it is a regional one, meaning that it has to have solved its problems on its own continent. This was one of the key messages of the European Council on September 16, dedicated for the first time entirely on foreign policy. What is the situation ...
| © Council of the European Union