Post-referendum, what’s next for Turkey’s EU bid?
EU foreign ministers disappoint Turkey’s democratic opposition by declaring “respect” for referendum results that further empower President Erdogan.
Turkish-EU ties appeared set on a collision course before the April 16 referendum that aimed to increase the powers of the Turkish presidency by switching Turkey to a presidential system of government and, by extension, increasing the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Accusations about dictatorial tendencies were leveled at Erdogan; he countered by accusing European leaders of acting like Nazis and supporting terrorists and coup plotters against Turkey.
Now that Erdogan has gotten what he wants from the referendum, regardless of the continuing debate about the fairness of the vote, tensions between Ankara and the EU may be subsiding.
Meeting in the Maltese capital of Valletta last week, EU foreign ministers chose to disregard calls from within their ranks (from Austria) and from the European Parliament for an end to or suspension of talks on Turkey’s EU membership because the country has strayed from the democratic path.
Prior to the meeting in Valletta, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe had placed Ankara on its watch list over the deteriorating state of its democracy. This is why the leniency accorded Turkey by EU foreign ministers caught many by surprise.
