home > by publication type > daily analysis > Turkey-Europe: The Widening Gap
Email
| Prepared by: | Carin Zissis |
|---|
A supporter of the True Path Party marches under a giant Turkish flag during an anti-France protest. (AP/Murad Sezer)
The possibility of Turkish EU accession appears increasingly uncertain. In recent weeks, European leaders have voiced unease over Ankara’s membership bid, citing concerns over Turkey’s infringement on freedom of expression and its embargo on Cypriot ships and planes (AP), the latter a manifestation of a long-standing dispute over division of the Aegean Sea with Greece. Some EU members, including France and Germany, have suggested Turkey seek “privileged partnership” rather than full membership. Olli Rehn, commissioner of EU enlargement, opposed this idea, but warned the Turkish accession process that began in October 2005 has been slowed by Ankara’s failure to repeal Article 301, which gives the government free reign to arrest journalists and activists for disparaging Turkey. In an interview with the BBC, EU President Jose Manuel Barroso said it could take twenty years for Turkey to become a member nation.
Recent events have done little to ease growing EU-Turkey tensions and Europe seems hesitant to absorb the overwhelmingly Muslim nation of more than 70 million people. France’s parliament recently angered Ankara when it decided to make criminal the denial of mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire. The law was condemned by Turkish author Orhan Pamuk (Reuters), who was previously indicted under Article 301 for raising the issue of the genocide and who received the Nobel Prize for Literature the same day the French rule passed. Europe-Turkey relations also took a hit last month when Pope Benedict XVI’s comments about Mohammed sparked widespread Muslim protests and temporarily put the pope’s November visit to Turkey in doubt.
Experts say such obstacles to Turkey’s EU membership could lead to missed opportunities for making inroads in Christian-Muslim relations. Denis MacShane, Britain’s former Europe minister, writes in the Financial Times that the Armenian genocide had little to do with modern Turkey and warns against Europe’s increasingly demeaning attitude toward Ankara. He asks, “How much longer will this secular, democratic, Muslim country look westwards to a European future, instead of turning east?” Sedat Laciner, director of Ankara-based think tank International Strategic Research Organization, criticizes “unsuccessful politicians” in Europe for condemning his country, and argues that EU accession would help “erode the unilateral policies” of the United States and Israel in the Middle East by drawing Europe closer to the region.
The problems in Europe coincide with a breakdown in U.S.-Turkey relations, despite Washington’s support for the country’s EU membership. This Council Special Report from June describes the “fractured alliance” and says that although Washington and Ankara agree that an Iraq splintered into three independent states is not in either country’s interests, Turkey is frustrated by the U.S. handling of the Iraqi war. Tensions also exist over America’s failure to support the Turkish fight against the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). In an August interview, CFR Fellow Steven A. Cook said the United States is unwilling to go after PKK cells in northern Iraq because “it would be foolhardy from a military perspective…to go after the PKK and destabilize the one region where people really aren't shooting at Americans.” Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute says the United States is too soft on Turkey’s government (WSJ) and U.S. diplomats should stop delivering “PC platitudes” that fail to address the “anti-secular agenda” of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party.
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR
Complete list of Task Force reports
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
To request permission to reprint or reuse CFR material, please fill out this permissions request form (PDF), referring to the instructions on page 1.
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.