EU Membership Depends on Turkey

Thursday June 11th, 2009

Two Turkish commissioners elected to join the European Parliament, Ertug and Bozkurt, spoke with SABAH: Despite the increasing racism the road to the EU will be determined by Ankara’s success in the reform process.

‘Out of four members of Turkish heritage chosen to join the European Parliament, German deputy Ismail Ertug and Dutch deputy Emine Bozkurt are defending the notion that despite the increase in racism, Turkey’s road to the EU will be paved according to Ankara’s success in the reform process as well as will depend on the perpetuation of reforms already initiated. Speaking to SABAH, both deputies emphasized, that the most important issue was that Turkey continue the reform process. Dutch deputy Bozkurt drew attention to the fact that the European Parliament needs to establish coalitions that support Turkey in response to the existence of racist parties.  

“Turks and immigrants did not exhibit interest in the election”

"It is extremely disappointing that fascist parties were victorious in the European Parliament elections. In part, this is due to the fact that immigrants and Turkish natives did not exhibit interest in the election. There was a 43% participation rate in the election in Germany. Turkey has continued to be material for internal politics in both Germany and France. This time, due to the fact that Germany’s Prime Minister Merkel’s party CDU acted more cautiously, the issue of Turkey did not surface to the agenda. In Austria, the opposite occurred as we witnessed a return to a Middle Ages mentality. The rise of fascist parties does not necessarily mean that Turkey’s route to the EU will be impeded. Because, Turkey’s becoming an EU member within the next five years is not even an issue. EU membership is in Turkey’s own hands.”

“The real issue is Ankara continuing reforms”

“It is certain that rightist parties will be vocal in the European Parliament. However, it would be incorrect to assume that extreme rightist parties will be influential in all EU nations. For example; Le Pen in France, and Vlaams Belang in Belgium, are experiencing drops in voter support. Even the racist group established in the European Parliament did not last long. Racist parties need to not be perceived as a whole. However, the truth of the matter is from here on out Turkey’s EU membership will be increasingly controversial. I will continue on with the group we founded last term, “Turkey’s European Allies.” However, what really matters is that Turkey continues keeping up with EU reforms at the same speed.”

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