Why the Brits should calm down about Turkey’s possible EU membership
Turkey will not join the European Union any time soon; then what is this noise about Turkey acceding into the EU and Turkish people coming into the United Kingdom? And so what if Turks come to the United Kingdom? There are already more than 100,000 Turkish people living in the UK. Plus, why would Turks want to go to the UK; the sun is not shining in the grey and the wet UK and the Turkish economy growing better than the UK’s. Yes, it is right to say that many people in Turkey look up to the European culture and lifestyle. Still, the rest of the Turkish population sees the EU as a threat to their Islamic traditions and conservatism.
Furthermore, Turkey is backsliding on democracy and drifting towards authoritarianism. How can it meet the EU conditionality to join the EU? Having countries like Hungary and Poland in the EU as member states, which have been bluntly veering further and further towards illiberal democracies and the EU’s migration deal with Turkey– when there are critical questions about democracy, the rule of law and the free press about this country– it becomes a genuine worry for the Leave and Remain camps whether the EU may bend its principles as it has been doing so with Hungary, and admit Turkey into the EU regardless. Brussels must stand up to the EU’s principles to maintain the EU’s credibility and unity.
The UK state policy seemed to favour Turkey’s membership of the EU club since the late 1980s. There is a common agreement in the academia that the underlying reason for the UK state’s policy on Turkey’s EU membership is the UK’s fear of the EU’s deepening policies and move towards a federal club with supranational institutions. Admitting countries like Turkey, with a population of 74 million and its endemic domestic problems and weaknesses, into the EU, the UK government believed they could hinder and problematise Brussels’s aspirations for an ever-closer union. Since Prime Minister David Cameron has been promised by the heads of the 27 members states that the UK would be able to opt-out from the ever closer union clause of the EU, provided the country votes to Remain today, I believe the UK would change its attitudes towards not only on the admission of Turkey but also on further enlargements of the EU. The British voters should not worry about further enlargement of the EU or should not vote based on the EU’s possible further enlargements because change is on the way.
That said, Prime Minister David Cameron was right to say that Turkey is unlikely to join the EU until the year 3000. He was right that Turkey’s relations with the EU have slowly progressed. Neither the development of Turkey–EU relations (1959-2005) nor Turkey’s accession negotiations with the EU (2005-2016) have been uninterruptedly smooth. Turkey’s first application for the Associative Membership of the EU was made in 1959. However, the Turkish army’s coups of 1960, 1971 and 19 80 meant that the EU had to put on hold on all the political dialogue with Turkish authorities during these periods. Thus the EU did not sign the Customs Union with Turkey until 1995. The economic crisis of the mid-1970s, inconsistent coalition governments and the government’s handling of the Kurdish issue meant that democracy never became the only game in the town, and civil liberties were barely protected in Turkey. Thus Turkey’s application for full membership was partly refused in 1989.
Furthermore, eleven years on, Turkey began accession negotiations with the European Union on 3 October 2005, and there has not been noticeable progress in the accession process. Only fourteen negotiation chapters were opened to negotiations; one of these (Science and Research) was provisionally closed, and Chapter 22 (Regional Policy and Coordination of Structural Instruments) was only officially opened in November 2013. At the same time, eight Chapters have been blocked by the EU Council decision over Turkey’s non-implementation of the Additional Ankara protocol since December 2006; five Chapters have been blocked by France since June 2007, and six Chapters were blocked by Cyprus since December 2009.
This proves that Turkey-EU relations have fluctuated, resulting in a slow progressing relationship. Plus, at the moment, the future of Turkey-EU relations looks bleaker than ever as Turkey slides to authoritarianism and illiberal democracy. Thus the British voters should not worry about Turkey now. The British voters should pay attention to the benefits of the EU for Europe: ‘Peace to Western Europe’ and ‘Democracy to Eastern Europe’. And the EU should hold tight to its principles; if the EU loses its credibility, there would likely be further referendums that could risk not only the peace and stability in Europe but also speed up the disintegration of the EU. This is pertinent in the light of the electoral success of the far-right political parties and the rise of Euroscepticism and illiberal democracy across Europe. I suggest the British voters should listen to arguments coming from sane voices from the remaining camp clearly outlining the benefits of the preserving status of the UK within the EU rather than listening to Nigel Farage’s xenophobic comments on Turkey and immigration.