Analyst: Turkey's Path to EU Depends on İmproving Human Rights

Turkey's EU membership process will largely hinge on efforts to improve human rights, in line with EU standards.

In a move to revive Turkey's stalled EU negotiation process, the EU agreed last week to resume Turkey's membership talks even as it postponed the opening of a new policy chapter in negotiations.

The EU's decision represented a compromise as strong opposition in Germany developed before upcoming elections and the harsh crackdown on anti-government protests by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government provoked sharp criticism of Turkey's commitment to reform.

The negotiations will now be postponed until October so that Brussels can prepare the annual progress report on Turkey concerning reforms and progress in human rights.

Nilgun Arisan Eralp, an EU expert from the Ankara-based think-tank TEPAV, told SES Türkiye the EU's decision makes the continuation of negotiations contingent on the protection of human rights.

"The EU doesn't want the democratisation process in Turkey to be seriously undermined by suspending the accession process and to punish civil society who sent many petitions pointing out the transformative power of the EU over the country," Eralp told SES Türkiye.

While Germany, Austria and the Netherlands opposed opening a new chapter, the majority of EU countries argued for engaging Turkey to further democratisation and reform.

Public support in Turkey for EU membership has fallen from more than 70 percent in 2011 to about 30 percent today as the initial excitement of the negotiation process has devolved into a series of disputes between the EU and Turkey.

For eventual EU membership, as a candidate country Turkey has to successfully negotiate and conclude 35 policy chapters, which foresee reforms and adoption of European standards. Since 2005, Turkey has started negotiations on 13 policy chapters and only one on science and research has closed. None have been opened in the past three years, leaving many to lose faith in Turkey's EU prospects.

Yesim Balkan, 33, an auditor in Istanbul, is one such skeptic.

"Under such political circumstances where even I have some serious concerns about the future orientation of my country, it is very natural that the EU would like to shift the gear to neutral to see how the democratisation process is proceeding in the country," Balkan told SES Türkiye.

"I think that the latest social protests spreading throughout the country had also an effect over the decision of the EU to suspend the process until October when the progress of Turkey in terms of human rights will be drafted under a report. The reaction of the government against these demonstrations and the lack of understanding the citizens' claims showed once again that Turkey has not internalised the EU's human rights spirit in full," she said.

Sarphan Uzunoglu, a post-graduate student at Kadir Has University, believes the EU's decision is a warning to Turkey and the authoritarian policies of the government.

"I think that the decision of the EU is in fact an opportunity for the government to think again all its loss of legitimacy over domestic policies as well as the seriousness of its relationship with the EU. Otherwise, it would have a negative impact in the long run over Turkey’s internal peace and its integration process with the EU," he said.

Source:Ses Türkiye/ Menekşe Tokyay