Heading for the Pan-European Conference on EU Politics

I'm currently at Arlanda Airport on my way to Tampere, a small city in central/southern Finland. I will be attending the Sixth Pan-European Conference on EU Politics organized by the European Consortium of Political Research.

I will be chairing a panel on Turkey-EU relations with papers that look at whatever happened to "normative power Europe" - or the normative influence that an attractive and dynamic EU used to have on applicant states such as Turkey. Helene Sjursen will be our discussant.

My own paper for the panel builds on the the research that I did for my book, and goes on to pontificate about the possible effects of the current Eurozone crisis for Turkey's membership bid. The panel will be the first research output from the Swedish Turkey Network that I am currently coordinating, since all the panelists are members of the network and the project got started thanks to it.

Turks to European Union: No, Thanks | WSJ blog

The German/Turkish think tank Tavak (the Turkish European Foundation for Education and Scientific Studies) on Tuesday published the results of a poll on attitudes in Turkey toward EU membership. The poll was conducted in June. I knew that the numbers would be low, but I was surprised by how low.

According to the poll, 17% of Turks now support membership in the EU! That is down from 34% last year, which was already extremely low. And it is down from some 70% back before the negotiations begun.

Turks to European Union: No, Thanks - Emerging Europe Real Time - WSJ

English language 'originated in Turkey' | BBC News

OK, so it's not the Sun Language Theory but still!

Here's the abstract from Science:

There are two competing hypotheses for the origin of the Indo-European language family. The conventional view places the homeland in the Pontic steppes about 6000 years ago. An alternative hypothesis claims that the languages spread from Anatolia with the expansion of farming 8000 to 9500 years ago. We used Bayesian phylogeographic approaches, together with basic vocabulary data from 103 ancient and contemporary Indo-European languages, to explicitly model the expansion of the family and test these hypotheses. We found decisive support for an Anatolian origin over a steppe origin. Both the inferred timing and root location of the Indo-European language trees fit with an agricultural expansion from Anatolia beginning 8000 to 9500 years ago. These results highlight the critical role that phylogeographic inference can play in resolving debates about human prehistory.

BBC News - English language 'originated in Turkey'

Turkish leaders appeal for unity after deadly car bomb | Reuters

It's been a busy summer with little time to post. I am currently on a brief trip to Istanbul and just came back from an interesting meeting at TESEV, the prominent Turkish think tank. Impressed by the range and urgency of the issues they cover.

Had a lovely lunch at a rooftop restaurant in Karaköy that we stumbled upon more or less by accident: Karaköyum. Definitely recommended, great view & good food.

And, just to give you more than gossip, here's a news update: Reuters reports on a car bomb in the Southern/Southeastern city of Gaziantep.

ISTANBUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Turkey's leaders called for unity on Wednesday following a car bomb attack which heightened fears that Kurdish militants are exploiting chaos in neighbouring Syria and stepping up their decades-old insurgency.

Turkish leaders appeal for unity after deadly car bomb | Reuters

EurActiv on Cyprus-EU-Turkey relations

Hello readers. I am back from vacation and my first post is recommended reading. Here are links to two interesting interviews over at EurActiv:

EU-Turkey relations are as bad as they that can be at the moment, largely because of the Cyprus EU presidency. But they should not get any worse because the two sides are dependent on each other, Ayla Gürel of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo tells EurActiv Czech Republic.

Statements by Turkish leaders who say their country will boycott the Cyprus EU presidency are “insulting and provocative” to Cyprus and the EU as a whole, says Cypriot Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Markoulis.

And here's, for your benefit, the view that I enjoyed over the summer. Add the smell of lavender and you get the idea (now back in rainy Sweden...):

The TurkEU Blog is on vacation. It will be back in late July. Have a great summer!

Bağış: Turkey has passed visa threshold | Hürriyet

Back from a conference in Prague - lovely city!

Apparently, the June 22 meeting on visa-free travel in the EU for Turks went well. Hürriyet Daily News:

According to Bağış, visa exemptions for Turkish citizens traveling to the European Unionwill take effect in around three to four years.  

On June 22, the EU minister held meetings with European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle and EUterm president Denmark’s minister of European cooperation, Nicolai Wammen, in Brussels. 

“A new process is beginning with the EU and our aim is to facilitate visa-free travel to the EU for our 75 million citizens,” Bağış said at the June 22’s meeting. 

POLITICS - Turkey has passed visa threshold: Bağış

See also the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/world/middleeast/turks-seek-freedom-to-travel-to-europe-without-visas.html?pagewanted=all

Turkey hopes for EU visa breakthrough this week | EUobserver.com

If it goes, a very interesting development reported on by EUobserver.com:

Turkey is aiming to tell its 75 million citizens on Thursday (21 June) they can visit the EU without visas in a couple of years' time.

For more, read the story on the EUobserver's website: EUobserver.com / Enlargement / Turkey hopes for EU visa breakthrough this week

Cyprus readies EU presidency plan (and discusses Turkey) | EurActiv

Interesting tidbit from EurActiv:

The Cypriot Ambassador to the EU, Kornelios Korneliou, provided a first insight yesterday (6 June) into the country's ambitions for its EU Presidency period, which begins in July. [...] 

The EU's enlargement negotiation process with Turkey will be a hot potato for Cyrpus as Ankara has warned it could freeze relations with the Cyprus Presidency or even with the EU, over the unsolved problem of the islands’ reunification (see background). 

Even so, the ambassador seemed confident about his country's chances of advancing talks with Turkey. Korneliou responded to a question from EurActiv, by saying that during its presidency, the Republic of Cyprus would not promote its national positions and behave as a “honest broker”. 

“What I said, I mean it. If Turkey delivers, we are going to deliver," the diplomat emphasised. "The bilateral issue we have with Turkey will not be part of our presidency. Turkey doesn't want anything to do with the Cyprus Presidency. Turkey decided this policy. It’s very unfortunate." 

He continued: “We should not forget that geography does not change. A more European Turkey will be in the interest not only of Cyprus, it will be in the interest of the European Union, it will be in the interest of Turkey. But we should play by the rules of the game. Big members such as Germany play by the rule of the game. Turkey should do the same”.

Cyprus readies EU presidency plan, and bailout bid | EurActiv

Turkey Charges Pianist Fazil Say Over Twitter Posts | NYTimes.com

Turkey Charges Pianist Fazil Say Over Twitter Posts - NYTimes.com