Her remarks came soon after the 27-nation-bloc agreed to keep accession talks with Turkey on track but it did so by approving a compromise formula which underlined the EU’s discontent with the way Ankara handled recent anti-government protests.
Merkel told the German parliament on Thursday that the EU’s conditional agreement to stick with Turkey’s application for membership meant the European bloc was “not acting as if nothing had happened.”
EU General Affairs Council (GAC) meeting, bringing together ministers from member states, agreed on Tuesday to open accession talks with Turkey on one of the 35 negotiating chapters but delayed an inter-governmental conference that marks the actual start of the talks by at least four months. The conference will now take place at a date that will be set after the EU Commission releases an annual progress report on Turkey’s membership efforts in mid-October.
“This outcome makes it clear that Turkey is an important partner but that our European values of the freedom to protest, freedom of opinion, the rule of law and religious freedom, are always valid and are not negotiable,” Reuters quoted Merkel as saying.
Similar to Merkel, other EU and the US officials have slammed the Turkish government for its handling of the protests, which drew harsh responses from Turkish officials, upsetting ties between the West and Turkey.
Amid mounting reaction to the Turkish government, Merkel’s conservatives, who oppose Turkish EU membership, strengthened their stance in their election manifesto on Monday, arguing that Turkey has not fulfilled the conditions for EU accession.
During last week’s EU meeting on Turkey’s accession bid, Germany and the Netherlands also opposed the opening of a new chapter, but later had a change of heart.
Comments on EU move
On Thursday, some EU officials responded to the opening of a new chapter with Turkey in the EU membership process.
Member of the European Parliament Baroness Sarah Ludford welcomed the EU move on Turkey’s accession talks, hoping that momentum will resume. “It would not serve the interests of those protesting for freedom and pluralism in Turkey to cut Turkey off from its European Union destination,” she said in remarks to Today’s Zaman.
“Turkey’s EU membership bid fundamentally depends on the government in Ankara improving its record on democracy and human rights. Like any country seeking EU membership, Turkey must conform to the liberal values that the European Union seeks to uphold. Unfortunately, concerns on this score repeatedly expressed by all the EU institutions have been exacerbated by Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan’s hostile response in recent weeks to the overwhelmingly peaceful protests.”
She said that EU continues to press Turkey for greater reforms, while adding that this attitude by the European bloc must not push Turkey away or to renege on promises.
Another comment on the EU move came from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) which said in a statement that “movement in the accession process is the best way to support Turkish reform.”
Contrary to some observers who expressed their reservations about supporting the opening of accession talks while protests were ongoing in Turkey, the FCO said: “The areas covered by Chapter 22 (Regional Policy) are not related to the current events in Turkey.”
US house committee holds session on Gezi Park protests
Meanwhile, the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday discussed the Gezi Park events during a session titled “Turkey at a Crossroads: What do the Gezi Park Protests Mean for Democracy in the Region?”
US lawmakers as well as Turkish and American experts attended the session to express their opinions about the recent protests and their effect on democracy.
Delivering an opening speech at the meeting, US Representative William R. Keating welcomed the diversity of protestors on Turkish streets expressing discontent about the governance of Prime Minister Erdoğan, criticized the Turkish prime minister for the “seeming sanctioning of brute force by the police against peaceful protesters.”
“The energy of these demonstrations could well become the basis for a re-invigorated, dynamic democracy. That is not a development Mr. Erdoğan should fear but rather one he should welcome,” Keating said.
Claiming that the electoral dominance of the Justice and Development (AK Party) led to the seemingly one-party system in the country, Keating said this situation left many others feeling “frustrated and powerless.” He further noted that Erdoğan’s majoritarian philosophy caused an exacerbation of frustration felt by many.
The US representative also had things to say about the harsh rhetoric used by Turkish officials, claiming that the defiant tone used by the authorities further inflamed the Gezi Park events.
James F. Jeffrey, former US ambassador to Turkey, also expressed his concerns about the government’s reaction to the protests.
“Turkey is increasingly split into two quite different political groupings, and that the government might be contributing to further polarization of the society. This is the situation of greatest concern to those of us who have worked with and follow Turkey closely,” said Jeffrey.
However, he admitted that any government has the right to restore order, and at least some of the demonstrators came from violent, radical backgrounds. The blocking of a major traffic center in one of the world’s biggest cities for weeks is not something that any government will allow to go on indefinitely, Jeffrey added.
For his part, Dr. Hillel Fradkin, Director of the Center on Islam, Democracy and the Future of the Muslim World at the Hudson Institute, described the implications of protests for the whole region as “not promising.”
He said that what the countries of the region need is some model of consensual democratic politics with some due accommodation of religious sensibilities. “For a while it seemed and was hoped that Turkey could provide that. But that is hardly the case today,” Fradkin said, adding that excessive use of police force has weakened Erdoğan’s moral authority in the region.