According to an article from the German newspaper, Der Spiegel, there are approximately 2.8 million ethnic Turks living in Germany. In fact, after Turkey and Iraq, Germany is home to the largest number of ethnic Turks in the world.
It comes as no surprise, according to the BBC, that talks on including Turkey in the European Union moved forward recently as German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the country and met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Much of the visit focused on the stalled Turkish EU accession process; however Merkel reiterated her belief, shared by many other EU member states, that Turkey should not attain full EU membership.
According to the BBC, Merkel favors a “privileged partnership” between Turkey and the EU, which would entail certain aspects which facially mirror membership, but not actual membership in the EU.
Erdogan rebuked any offers beyond full membership. Erdogan said a “privileged partnership” status does not exist in the EU framework and that, “the rules of the game have changed” since Turkey first entered into accession negations in 2005, according to the BBC.
Merkel and Erdogan seemed to disagree on most issues during the visit, ranging from increased sanctions on Iran to the decades-long division of Cyprus, the northern portion of which was invaded by Turkey in 1974.
Germany is Turkey’s largest trade partner and foreign investor; couple that with the number of Turks living in Germany and one can easily see why these two nations are so inextricably linked.
Some may argue that attempts to block Turkish membership are hypocritical given that so many Eastern European nations with much more fragile economies and perhaps worse social ills were rushed into the EU as soon as the books could be cooked — Poland stands as a good example.
There are major differences between the politically and economically backwards new member states from Eastern Europe and Turkey, however Eastern Europe is already European at its core, it need only be economically and politically changed, but Turkey is fundamentally not European.
Turkey lacks not only the same fundamentals of European culture which are able to bridge the gap between the economically dominant Western states and developing Eastern ones, but it also lacks a clear commitment to the rule of law, human rights, etc.
Turkey is still plagued by institutional problems with its democracy; a military coup, as has occurred many times in the past, is not entirely impossible. Turkey still refuses to come to terms with the Armenian genocide and the continued ethnic tensions with its Kurdish minority. In short, Turkey is in no way ready, and will likely never be, to join the EU.
Furthermore, Erdogan on numerous occasions in the past, according to Der Spiegel, has called for Turks to resist assimilation. These comments, along with the manner in which Turkey approaches the rest of Europe, stand as just more evidence why Turkish membership in the EU would be potentially destabilizing and burdensome.
Reach Max at maximilian.feldhake@asu.edu
