The EU “reaffirmed the importance it attached to its relations with Turkey, a candidate country and a key partner for the European Union, considering its dynamic economy and strategic location” at a meeting of EU-Turkey Association Council in Brussels Monday, as it called for “active and credible."
accession negotiations which respect the EU's commitments and established conditionality” in order to end uncertainty over its stagnant eight-year long membership negotiations.
Turkey’s continuing impasse with neighbouring EU member Cyprus has proved a particular sticking point in its acccession talks with the EU, particularly during Cyprus’ rotating occupancy of the EU Council presidency last year, which saw EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule last September express “serious concerns with regard to Turkish statements and threats and the rotating presidency of the Council and we call on Turkey to fully respect the role of the Presidency”.
Following up his previous criticism Monday following the meeting he chaired alongside Irish Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore, representing the sitting Irish presidency of the EU, the joint conclusions by Fule “noted that Turkey had not made progress towards the necessary normalisation of its relations with the Republic of Cyprus”.
Early last year, Turkey vowed to break off relations with the EU presidency during Cyprus’ six-month tenure at its head, which began in July, unless reunification talks between Turkish Cypriots living in the northern enclave and Greek Cypriots governing Cyprus resumed. In a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Fule, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davitoglu insisted “relations and contacts with EU will continue, but none of the ministries, institutions of Turkish Republic will be in contact with the EU presidency in any of the activities related to Greek Cypriot presidency”.
Turkish Premier Tayyip Erdogan further inflamed controversy regarding his country’s much-speculated waning interest in EU membership in January in a televised interview with Turkish media, as he levelled that EU membership may cease to be such a priority should Turkey realise its new goal of membership to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), otherwise known as the Shanghai Five.
In his comments to Kanal 24, the controversial leader insisted that whilst Turkey had not yet abandoned its hopes of EU membership, “if we get into the SCO, we will say good-bye to the European Union. The Shanghai Five is better -- much more powerful”. Citing Pakistan and India’s own accession hopes to the body, he added that Turkey shared “common values with them”, as he ruled out cutting ties with the EU before a viable alternative partner was in place.
The SCO is a mutual-security organization which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Turkey was accepted as a dialogue partner by the SCO last June at its annual summit in Beijing, and Erdogan touted a possible membership application in a meeting with Russian President Putin as early as last July, a request government sources subsequently dismissed as a joke.
Turkey’s EU aspirations were not entirely dashed at Monday’s meeting with Davitoglu however, as the administration did come in for some praise from the EU hierarchy for “its active involvement in its wider neighbourhood and welcomed the intensification of the regular political dialogue between the EU and Turkey”, most notably for its role in Syria, which has seen Turkey take in a large proportion of the estimated 1.3 million Syrian nationals from the neighbouring two year-long conflict.
The EU further commended “on-going talks aimed at ending the terrorism and violence in South-East Turkey”, which has seen Turkish authorities point the figure at Syrian-sponsored terrorism for culpability for a terrorist attack on the Turkish border town of Reyhlanli earlier this month, which claimed the lives of 46 people. Turkey has long accused Syria of arming and financing the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels, with Erdogan expressing fears the ongoing Syrian conflict would strengthen the PKK’s authority in border regions.
Former Turkish Interior Minister Idrius Naim Sahin accused the PKK of being behind an attack on the Turkish border town of Gaziantep last August, which claimed the lives of nine Turkish civilians, as he insisted the incident had “links within and outside of Turkey”. The international community greeted a PKK declaration in March to disarm, with French FM Laurent Fabius describing the move as “a positive development for the future of Turkey after decades of conflict”. “We support efforts by the Turkish government, with all stakeholders to implement a peaceful solution that would allow Turkey to live in peace, democracy and prosperity,” he added.