What do Turkey and the EU Want from Each Other?
The current situation in the Middle East and the consequences resulting from it open up a new phase in the EU-Turkey relations. The flow of millions of refugees to Europe makes the sides find new ways for cooperation.
What do Turkey and the EU want from each other?
It is not a secret that one of the main challenges Europe is facing today is the migration crisis. The refugees reach Europe mainly through Turkey-Greece border. This means that at this stage the cooperation with Turkey becomes very important for the EU in order to stop the refugees’ flow. This is the reason why Europe which promotes democratic values is ready to ignore the Islamization of Turkish society by Erdogan, the continuing violations of freedom of speech, the arrest of journalists, even the war against the Kurds.
Turkey, however, in exchange of accepting more refugees, puts its demands. The Turkish authorities want visa-free access for Turkish citizens to Europe, they want the EU to confirm their plans about establishing "safe and no-fly" zones in the Turkish-Syrian border, and at last, they want to resume accession negotiations that are now in a deadlock.
Erdogan and the EU need each other but their positions on many issues are very different.
The point is how far Europe is ready to go in its relations with Turkey. Is the EU ready to have a country among its members that faces serious economic and security problems?
However, it should be noted that Europe’s policy towards Turkey shows that its democracy starts and ends wherever its interests are. Winston Churchill’s principle "There are no permanent friends or enemies but permanent interests" is still quite actual.
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