EU and Erdogan: Turkish crises prevent dream of membership (Part 2)

Mahmoud al-Batakoushi

The policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have caused an increase in crises between Turkey and the European Union, which made Turkey’s dream of obtaining membership farfetched and almost impossible, especially after European countries became tired of the Turkish president’s behavior, pushing the EU to impose a package of sanctions, albeit insufficient.

In the second part of the “EU and Erdogan” series, we see how Turkey has faced great criticism because of its activities in gas exploration in disputed areas in the eastern Mediterranean with Greece and Cyprus, both members of the European bloc. The dispute began last July with Turkey sending an exploration ship and boats from its maritime region to disputed waters, which angered Greece, as Ankara disputes sovereignty over the eastern Mediterranean marine region rich in energy resources, including natural gas.

The Turkish president’s recent visit to the internationally recognized Republic of Northern Cyprus also contributed to enhancing tensions with the European Union, which once again threatened to impose sanctions.

Crises hamper rapprochement

The dispute over the Aegean islands between Turkey and Greece also stands out as a final factor contributing to Ankara’s confusion with the European Union.

The conflict in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region between Azerbaijan and Armenia also represented another arena for tension between the EU and Ankara, in light of the accusations leveled against the latter of interfering militarily in the conflict and sending foreign fighters to help Azerbaijan.

Dutch parliamentarian Peter Van Dalen called for European action against Ankara, saying, “Erdogan wants to revive the Ottoman Empire,” adding, “The Turkish president cannot be stopped through words, but with harsh penalties, so as not to repeat the Armenian massacres that occurred in 1915 at the end of the Ottoman Empire.”

Libya is also another source of tension between the two sides, as the European Union expresses its dissatisfaction with the Turkish role in Libya and considers that the military intervention hinders reaching an agreement. The EU also criticized the memorandum of understanding between Ankara and the Libyan Presidency Council regarding the demarcation of maritime borders, considering that it violates the sovereign rights of other countries. The French administration also accused Ankara of breaching its pledges at the Berlin summit, increasing its military presence in Libya, and importing fighters from Syria.

Among the most important crises hindering the Turkish-European rapprochement is the one that arose between French President Emmanuel Macron and his counterpart Erdogan due to the offensive cartoons last October. Erdogan called for a boycott of French goods in response, which prompted France to pressure the EU to impose sanctions on Turkey.

Meanwhile, EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell announced that the call to boycott French products is inconsistent with the diplomatic and trade agreements signed by Turkey with Brussels, denouncing at the same time Erdogan’s offensive statements against his French counterpart, saying that they are unacceptable and Turkey is further away from the European Union.

Hobby of manipulating files

Erdogan is also practicing his hobby of manipulating files, such as the refugee and ISIS files, in order to put pressure on Europe and achieve the largest possible gains.

To a large extent, Erdogan was able to impose a policy of blackmail. In 2016, the Turkish president sat at the same table with EU leaders to conclude a “readmission” agreement to end illegal immigration flows from Turkey to European countries and to ensure improved reception conditions for refugees in Turkey, where there are 3.6 million Syrian refugees, in exchange for support worth $6.7 billion.

Under this agreement, Turkey obtained gains and aid from European countries, led by England, France and Germany, to revive the exhausted Turkish economy, and $6.2 billion in aid has already poured in from the European Union.

The Syrian refugees became the winning pressure card in the hands of Erdogan, waving it from time to time in the face of Europe if it objected to his plans regarding Syria and ultimately led to the Turkish presence in northern Syria hours after the withdrawal of American forces following Operation Peace Spring that Erdogan’s army launched on October 11.

It suffices to point out that Erdogan threatened Europe three times prior to Operation Peace Spring for the sake of money at times, and to justify the war at another time, saying, “We are not about to expel refugees by closing our doors, but how happy we would be if we could help create a safe zone (in Syria) and we succeed in that.”

Turkey has also resorted to exploiting ISIS to threaten EU countries to return the organization’s prisoners to their countries of origin in European countries, which puts European countries in a very dangerous dilemma, because they are a threat to national security, especially since Europe was subjected to several terrorist attacks in the past, so it has no choice but to submit to its blackmail and to satisfy Turkey financially for not exporting ISIS elements.