Turkish dilemma

18 June 2013 By Una Galani Follow @ugalani

Ankara’s path to joining the EU has been long and arduous. A suspension of membership talks to force Prime Minister Erdogan to compromise with the protesters won’t help Turkey’s democratisation. But if the government’s position hardens further, the EU will have no other choice.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on June 17 that she was shocked at Turkey’s tough response to anti-government protesters.
A senior EU official said last week that Germany was reluctant to open a new negotiating area with Turkey on its bid to join the European Union as expected at the next tentatively scheduled ministerial talks on June 26.
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said there was “no direct link between the events we are now witnessing and the technical process of opening further chapters on accession”.
But he told a regular government news conference: “There are still many technical points that in our view need clearing up. This will take time.”
Ankara has completed only one of the 35 policy chapters that every candidate nation must conclude. Some of the others are blocked by EU concerns about Turkish human rights and freedom of speech.

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