Have relations between Turkey and Europe reached a turning point?
The decision by the European Court of Human Rights on a jailed Kurdish leader might be marking a turning point in ties between Turkey and the European Union.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently seemingly scored foreign policy achievements one after the other that gave an impression that normalization with the Western world is in progress. His hosting of the quadripartite Syria summit in Istanbul brought in French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Then Erdogan paid a visit to Paris to participate in ceremonies marking the end of World War I.
All these high-level contacts with major Western leaders came after his official visit to Germany, where he was greeted with a red-carpet reception at his insistence.
In the eyes of many in Turkey, the transactional relationship with the West ultimately had been maintained as a result of the interests of both sides. The relationship would be the best choice for Erdogan as it would relieve him from Western pressures on Turkey’s human rights violations and deficits.
The West, and in particular the Europeans, seem to believe they are getting a profitable deal on Turkey’s actions to stem the Syrian refugee flow. Yet the Europeans are indefinitely postponing Turkey’s bid for membership in the EU.
