Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Symşek on Tuesday (14 May) called for Turkey to “firmly re-anchore” in the European Union, adding that Ankara and Brussels share “equal responsibility” for the deterioration of relations in recent years.
Speaking at an event in Brussels hosted by EU policy think tank Bruegel, Simsek argued that Turkey’s long-stalled EU membership would boost the bloc’s share of global GDP and help solve the problem of Europe’s ageing workforce.
But he pushed back against criticism that Ankara’s deteriorating human rights record and democratic backsliding were the main reasons for the setback in EU-Turkey relations, arguing that a lack of European “leadership” was a key factor.
“I believe Turkey should be firmly re-integrated into the European Union,” he said.
“[But] I think the biggest problem is the lack of leadership and strategic vision from Europe regarding Turkey. It’s a two-way street. We’ve grown apart, but [in] “If you analyse the reasons why, Brussels is probably equally to blame,” he added.
Şimşek also specifically accused the EU of hypocrisy for preaching the virtues of free trade while failing to renew the decades-old EU-Turkey customs union.
According to the European Commission, the agreement, signed in 1995, will boost trade in goods worth nearly 200 billion euros by 2022. Currently, the EU is Turkey’s largest trading partner, and Turkey is the EU’s seventh-largest trading partner.
“[By] “Europe will not give us any benefits if we do not strengthen the customs union,” Symshek said. “We want to compete on an equal footing. We want a level playing field. That’s what they say are European values.”
“Too big for some people.”
Formal negotiations over Turkey’s EU membership began in 2005 but deteriorated significantly following the attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016, which led to the detention of tens of thousands of Turkish citizens and a brutal crackdown on the media and judiciary.
In 2019, the European Parliament urged the Council and Commission to suspend accession negotiations with Ankara, citing a lack of judicial independence, a backslide in democracy and restrictions on freedom of expression.
But Simsek suggested that European resistance to Turkish membership was not because Turkey was becoming increasingly authoritarian, but rather because Turkey was “too big”.
“Culturally, religiously, we are certainly different,” he said, “but Europe is said to be a nation of so-called values. I think the problem is that we are too big for some people.”
Equal treatment
Alluding to deepening economic ties between Turkey and Russia, Simsek also stressed Turkey’s ability to “look elsewhere” beyond Europe and the United States if relations do not improve.
He also warned that Europe’s recent “ignorance” of Ankara could ultimately prove “very costly.”
“We can look elsewhere in terms of trade and investment,” he said, “but we want to repair relations with the geographic West, which is the EU, and the non-geographic West, which is the United States, because we recognize the need for that. But we also want equal treatment and respect. That’s the key.”
But despite the difficulties, Şimşek ultimately sounded optimistic about the future of EU-Turkey relations.
“I think the outlook is bright,” he said. “Yes, there are dark clouds, but it’s not pessimistic. It’s more constructive than a lot of people think.”
[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski/Alice Taylor]
