#EUTurkey: Compromise delayed?

Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan has criticized the Treaty of Lausanne signed on 24 July 1923 and has suggested the current borders of Turkey (as we know them today) might be revised. Erdogan also added that some islands granted to Greece according to the Treaty, actually belong to Turkey because of the mosques built there in the period of the Ottoman Empire. This outrageous statement by the Turkish president has left EU officials puzzled and has once again brought into question the dilemma of Turkey joining the EU, writes Olga Malik.

Nevertheless, the response came up immediately. EU Commission’s President, Jean Claude Juncker, said that in case the EU’s decision would not be in favor of the visa free regime between Turkey and the EU, the blame for this decision would be on the Turkish President. In his interview on the program Global Conversation on Euronews, Juncker added that he had been known Erdogan for more than 16 years and those years were not always perfect for Turkey-EU bilateral relations. “Sometimes our meetings are very brief and our conversations are sharp, it is not so easy to reach a compromise,” said Juncker.

It looks like this time, reaching a compromise will not be easy. The Western media often stressed human-rights violations and freedom of speech violations in Turkey. For instance, in October, 2016 Murat Sabuncu, the editor in chief of the Turkey’s opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet , was detained with no reasonable cause. As the Turkish police later stated, the house-check and temporary arrest of Sabuncu were based on suspicions of possible alienation of Sabuncu and Fethulllah Gulen (the latter is blamed for organizing a coup in Turkey in July, 2016).

Though the Turkish President is not only known for his tough internal policy, but he is also notorious for the aggressive policy in the international arena. For instance, the Turkey’s Agency for collaboration and development (TIKA) were sponsoring the Ukraine media for issuing Turkey-friendly news and reports and were funding Crimean Tatar communities for creating a positive image of Turkey in Crimea. Among TIKA’s manipulators were some famous politicians in Ukraine such as Mustafa Dzhemilev. A self-proclaimed leader of the Crimean Tatar People Mejlis, Dzhemilev were often blamed by the Crimean Tatars for causing tension in relations of Crimean-tatar communities with other national minorities. Dzhemilev was one of the candidates for this year’s Sakharov prize, but later journalist Rikard Jozwiak wrote in his Twitter that Dzamilev’s candidacy was denied.

Obviously, if all restrictions between Ankara and Brussels are lifted, Turkey’s aggressive policy might become a social nightmare for the EU. According to experts, Turkey will be able to consolidate its social force to manipulate Europe mainly using migrants and refugees in the EU. Erdogan publicly announced Turkey’s hard-driving policy adding that in case if the compromise regarding revision of the Lausanne Treaty is not reached, Turkey will open its borders with the EU causing an increase of refugee flows to Europe. Should this happen, the great European civilization will likely become the 'Great Turkistan'.

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