On Sunday 4 February, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the EU "to keep the promises" made to his country.
"The EU is blocking access to the negotiation and implies the lack of progress in the negotiations depends on us. That's unfair – as is the fact that certain countries in the EU are putting options forward for us other than accession", he told Italian daily newspaper La Stampa. "We want full accession to the EU. We are unhappy with other options", Erdogan stated.
The previous day, Turkey's ambassador to the EU, Faruk Kaymakci, spoke to journalists, including EUROPE, and stated that "Turkey is still fully committed to joining the EU". He also said "its strategic objective has always been, and still is, full accession". In Kaymakci's view, a privileged partnership with the EU "would not be a just and fair partnership". "It would be an indecent and immoral proposal to Turkey", he said. Furthermore, while in the diplomat's view "Turkey's accession is the most complicated", "in the end no member states will be able to afford the luxury of refusing it". "Without underestimating other memberships, when Turkey joins the EU, its contribution will not be like any other accession", he said.
In addition, in Kaymakci's opinion, "the EU should be an anchor (for Turkey) and give (Turkey) a real prospect". "When this happens, Turkey will be a credible candidate", he added.
"Because of the coup (attempted on 15 July 2016) and less anchorage, Turkey has lost its appetite for more radical action and reforms", Kaymakci said. "If the EU gives Turkey more positive messages, Turkey will do more in terms of reforms. But the more the EU marginalises Turkey, the more Turkey will become nationalist", he warned.
Asked about the possible opening of EU accession chapters in 2018, the ambassador replied by spinning the question around. "Nothing is impossible with the Turks. I think progress is needed on the state of emergency, and on the results of the ongoing trials on the detentions and dismissals. That would change the negative image of Turkey and then would enable Turkey and the EU to sit down around the table and work on the accession process", he said.
A summit to relaunch relations?
The Turkish ambassador was nevertheless optimistic as to the development of relations between his country and the EU this year, particularly with a probable EU-Turkey summit. Rumour has it that this summit could take place in in Brussels or Varna in Bulgaria in March, with the presidents of the European institutions, the Bulgarian prime minister (whose country is currently at the helm of the EU Council Presidency) and Erdogan.
Kaymakci pinned great hope on this summit, which would be the opportunity to discuss bilateral relations, and which, he thought, would enable both parties to renew their commitment to the subject of accession.
The summit could also be the opportunity for the EU to approve the second tranche of €3 billion promised to Ankara in connection with the refugee crisis. Kaymakci explained that this tranche – unlike the first, which was focused on humanitarian work – should be used for the integration of refugees or their return. "This means investing in Syria too", he said, mentioning the construction of schools or electricity grids. The Turks are also asking the EU to speed up the process and to facilitate the voluntary humanitarian admission scheme, which was proposed by the Commission in December 2015 but which is still under negotiation. In Kaymakci's view, the fact there is no legal way to come to the EU risks encouraging illegal arrivals from his country, which are reported to have increased from 75 to 80 over recent weeks.
Kaymakci said other subjects for cooperation could also progress this year. "If things go better, with better understanding, we could engage in the visa liberalisation process", he said, recognising that Turkey should fulfil the five remaining criteria of the initial 72. "As soon as the criteria are fulfilled, the visa liberalisation process should be started", he added. This is a procedure that could be completed within one or two years, in his opinion. Turkey still has to amend its anti-terrorist legislation, as well as make progress on personal data protection and sign an agreement with Europol.
The ambassador also thought that amending the customs union could be a subject for discussion. While the member states committed to updating this union, discussions are currently at a standstill because certain member states are reluctant to do this. In Kaymakci's view, this update could take three or four years, depending on the areas introduced (such as energy or public procurement), then the ratification procedure could take one or two further years.
Netherlands recalls its ambassador in Turkey
But relations between Turkey and the EU and some of its member states remain complicated. Tension continues publicly on the Turkish offensive in Afrin (see other article) or on the differentiation between Turkey and the Western Balkans. "Turkey is not happy with the wording the EU is trying to impose: the term 'Western Balkans', the ambassador stated, adding that this geographical indication did not exist. In his view, the EU has invented this terminology to separate Turkey from the enlargement process, as Turkey is a Balkan country. "I hope the EU will commit to engaging in the enlargement process towards the 'Western Balkans' and Turkey", he said, reiterating his country's attachment to the Euro-Atlantic outlook of the Balkans countries.
Similarly, on Monday 5 February, the Netherlands announced the recall of its ambassador in Ankara. The relations between the two countries have been complicated since the refoulement last year of two Turkish ministers on Dutch soil. "We have not managed to find an agreement on how normalisation should take place", the Dutch minister for foreign affairs, Halbe Zijlstra, stated in a press release. Consequently, the government "has decided officially to withdraw the Netherlands' ambassador in Ankara, who has had no more access to Turkey since March 2017". Reciprocally, "for as long as the Netherlands has no ambassador in Turkey, it will not grant authorisation for the entry into service of a new Turkish ambassador" in the country.
And the second half of this year could also prove complicated because Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has spoken openly in favour of stopping the accession negotiations, and Austria will take over the presidency of the EU Council on 1 July. "But I am sure that with time and with dialogue, good sense can prevail", Kaymakci stated. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)