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Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 27 2014
'Turkey's EU accession no longer on the horizon'
GÃ`NAY HÄ°LAL AYGÃ`N
May 27, 2014, Tuesday
As Turkey's hope for accession to the European Union gradually fades
away, the result of the elections held across the EU over the weekend
to determine the European Parliament (EP) deputies has dealt another
blow to the hopes of Turkey.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an and his government have lately
drawn constant criticism from the West, including member states of the
EU, for recent intolerant and oppressive laws which are in obvious
violation of freedom and democracy. Remarks from top EU officials
suggest that Turkey has retreated from its positive steps and
improvements in terms of democracy and free speech over the last few
years. Now, with the rise of Euroskeptics and the far right in the EP
elections, observers consider Turkey's negotiation process for
becoming an EU member to be in a more unfavorable position than ever.
Bugün daily columnist Nuh GönültaÅ? wrote a Tuesday piece titled
`Farewell to Europe.' `Although we have a specific ministry in charge
of our EU affairs, today I have solid reasons to think that those
governing Turkey are now determined not to be admitted to the EU,'
GönültaÅ? said. According to the columnist, Justice and Development
Party (AK Party) officials have a basic approach, in which being
anti-EU is among the top priorities. Those who regarded the EU as the
source of every evil before they came to power probably continue to
think in the same way after they being elected to government, GönültaÅ?
wrote. `Why would those who called the EU a 'union of Christian
countries' in the 1990s start thinking differently in the 2000s?'
asked GönültaÅ?. `Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an is a leader who believes that
the EU will never accept Turkey as a member and at the same time he
does not even want the country to join the the EU. According to
ErdoÄ?an, the EU is stalling Turkey in order to win compromises from
the country, like the unification of Cyprus or forcing it to
acknowledge the existence of the '1915 genocide' of Armenians,'
GönültaÅ? said. The AK Party took serious steps to comply with the EU
standards when it first took office, but not to accede to the EU,
GönültaÅ? commented, asserting that through these steps, the AK Party
chiefly aimed at curbing military tutelage in the country with support
from the EU. GönültaÅ? added that none of the EU countries tolerate
corruption as the AK Party government does and in none of them are
courts dominated by the government.
Cengiz Aktar, a columnist with the Taraf daily, wrote on Tuesday that
Turkey's bid for EU accession is no longer on the horizon, unless
there is a political earthquake. `The already existing opposition to
Turkey's possible EU accession has now skyrocketed with ErdoÄ?an's
Cologne speech, in which he slammed basic EU values, free speech and
press freedom and had German Chancellor Angela Merkel booed by the
crowd, with an extremely self-confident attitude like a third world
politician,' Aktar commented.
In his Tuesday column, Milliyet daily's Sami Kohen wrote that the
results of the EP elections raised a new concern for Turkey and also
for Turks living in Europe, as it appeared that xenophobic and anti-EU
integration voices will be raised in the EP.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
May 27 2014
'Turkey's EU accession no longer on the horizon'
GÃ`NAY HÄ°LAL AYGÃ`N
May 27, 2014, Tuesday
As Turkey's hope for accession to the European Union gradually fades
away, the result of the elections held across the EU over the weekend
to determine the European Parliament (EP) deputies has dealt another
blow to the hopes of Turkey.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an and his government have lately
drawn constant criticism from the West, including member states of the
EU, for recent intolerant and oppressive laws which are in obvious
violation of freedom and democracy. Remarks from top EU officials
suggest that Turkey has retreated from its positive steps and
improvements in terms of democracy and free speech over the last few
years. Now, with the rise of Euroskeptics and the far right in the EP
elections, observers consider Turkey's negotiation process for
becoming an EU member to be in a more unfavorable position than ever.
Bugün daily columnist Nuh GönültaÅ? wrote a Tuesday piece titled
`Farewell to Europe.' `Although we have a specific ministry in charge
of our EU affairs, today I have solid reasons to think that those
governing Turkey are now determined not to be admitted to the EU,'
GönültaÅ? said. According to the columnist, Justice and Development
Party (AK Party) officials have a basic approach, in which being
anti-EU is among the top priorities. Those who regarded the EU as the
source of every evil before they came to power probably continue to
think in the same way after they being elected to government, GönültaÅ?
wrote. `Why would those who called the EU a 'union of Christian
countries' in the 1990s start thinking differently in the 2000s?'
asked GönültaÅ?. `Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an is a leader who believes that
the EU will never accept Turkey as a member and at the same time he
does not even want the country to join the the EU. According to
ErdoÄ?an, the EU is stalling Turkey in order to win compromises from
the country, like the unification of Cyprus or forcing it to
acknowledge the existence of the '1915 genocide' of Armenians,'
GönültaÅ? said. The AK Party took serious steps to comply with the EU
standards when it first took office, but not to accede to the EU,
GönültaÅ? commented, asserting that through these steps, the AK Party
chiefly aimed at curbing military tutelage in the country with support
from the EU. GönültaÅ? added that none of the EU countries tolerate
corruption as the AK Party government does and in none of them are
courts dominated by the government.
Cengiz Aktar, a columnist with the Taraf daily, wrote on Tuesday that
Turkey's bid for EU accession is no longer on the horizon, unless
there is a political earthquake. `The already existing opposition to
Turkey's possible EU accession has now skyrocketed with ErdoÄ?an's
Cologne speech, in which he slammed basic EU values, free speech and
press freedom and had German Chancellor Angela Merkel booed by the
crowd, with an extremely self-confident attitude like a third world
politician,' Aktar commented.
In his Tuesday column, Milliyet daily's Sami Kohen wrote that the
results of the EP elections raised a new concern for Turkey and also
for Turks living in Europe, as it appeared that xenophobic and anti-EU
integration voices will be raised in the EP.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress