Turkey to allow 50% foreign ownership in broadcasting

This just in: Turkey to allow 50% foreign ownership in broadcasting

Europe's new Berlin Wall?

The TurkEU Blog is returning from the dead (or at least the holidays)!

The big recent news is the Greek decision to erect a 12 km long wall/fence along its border with Turkey, to curb immigration flows across the border. The original plan - to build a wall/fence along the entire 200+ km border - was scaled back after heavy criticism from human rights groups and various European commentators. But even this smaller version is receiving criticism from international bodies like UNHCR, Amnesty International, and even the EU. A Commission spokesperson stated (on Jan 3) that

Fences and walls have proven in the past to be really short term measures that don't really help address and manage the migratory challenges in a more consolidated and structural way.

Greece’s Citizen Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis emphasized Monday that the wall should not be seen as being directed against Turkey as such, but was instead a way to "boost mutual cooperation" between the two countries. Exactly how a three meters tall concrete wall and barbed wire fence will serve to further cooperation across the border remains to be seen.

As always, it is interesting to consider European media reactions. Germans, in particular, of course have experiences with big walls and Spiegel Online has a summary of some recent editorials in German newspapers, most of which are critical of the wall, and some of which are quite eloquent in their criticism. But not all. Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung (center-right) makes the EU-Turkey link and

Holiday break until Jan 6

The TurkEU Blog will be inactive until January 6.

Happy New Year!

Orhan Pamuk: Turkey is Europe's "mirror image"

A more leisurely post during the holidays. An interview from 2009 with Orhan Pamuk, in which he pontificates on the significance of identity - both Turkish and European - for the Turkish EU-bid. Courtesy of Euronews.

Enjoy, and happy holidays!

Slanted reporting on Turkey's stalled EU bid

I will continue on the theme of slanted media reporting of Turkey-EU relations, simply because there's a lot to cover. Don't get me wrong - most of the reporting is good and even the bad usually contains bits and pieces of good information. But a growing number of news stories appear to be converging around a simple explanation for the lack of progress in Turkey's accession negotiations, and I think that this explanation is one-sided. (Fortunately, it is not yet a consensus, and I will quote reports with a different take to emphasize that there is another side to the story.)

But let me give just one recent example, posted yesterday on the South East European Times website SET.com (find the article here). (The SET, btw, is sponsored by the US European Command.) The article sums up recent developments concerning Croatia's progress toward accession, and then turns to Turkey. Here is what the piece says about Turkey, in its entirety:

Turkey, which also began its membership talks in October 2005, has been moving at a much slower pace in the negotiation process. It was able to open only one negotiating chapter this year, bringing the total to 13, and has closed only one since the start of its negotiations with Brussels.

The main reasons for the slow pace are Turkey's sluggish reform progress, as well as its refusal to open its airports and ports to traffic from EU member Cyprus. As a result, negotiations on eight of the chapters have been frozen since late 2006.

Going East, Young Turk? An emerging narrative?

At times, it must feel to Turks that they can do no right in the eyes of many in the EU. My last post was a link to a news piece about the Turkish economy, and it got me thinking about how the latter is being portrayed in Western media.

The Turkish economy, as most readers will know, is now doing extraordinarily well and is coming out of the current recession in much better shape than many of its European neighbors. As Bloomberg notes:

During his first five years as prime minister, Erdogan presided over gross domestic product growth that averaged almost 7 percent per year. Turkey’s GDP increased at an annual rate of 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 as the country recovered from the global crisis, lagging behind only China among the Group of 20 nations, and the International Monetary Fund predicts an expansion of 6.25 percent in 2010.

The IMF now ranks Turkey as the world's 15th largest economy and Turkey is growing faster than its EU counterparts. All of this may seem like good news from the EU's perspective, and four EU foreign ministers recently did make the argument in a NYT op-ed that such a dynamic economy would be a good addition to the troubled EU economic area.

Instead, it is striking to note how many of the Western reports of the Turkish "miracle" that end up either mentioning of framing the entire story in terms that make the recent economic growth and trade a threat to the EU. The trouble is, we learn, that much of this growth is due to Turkey's increased trade with its eastern, Asiatic, and most troubling of all, predominantly Muslim neighbors - like Iran and Syria - rather

Turkish Banks Sell Lira Bonds After Regulator Removes Government Safeguard - Bloomberg

Turkish Banks Sell Lira Bonds After Regulator Removes Government Safeguard - Bloomberg

Turkey Welcomes EU Council's Enlargement Conclusions

From Turkish Weekly:

Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued Tuesday night, it welcomed the "Enlargement Conclusions" released by EU's General Affairs Council that will be presented to the EU Summit to be held next week, only voicing objection to conclusions on the Cyprus issue.

Turkey Welcomes EU Council's Enlargement Conclusions

Turkey's long wait

The following graph illustrates the special case in which Turkey finds itself in terms of how long it has stood at the EU's door compared to other current applicants and recent members.

The graph is taken from my forthcoming book Turkey and the European Union: Christian and Secular Images of Islam, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. I will be posting selections from the book on this blog. In the book, I try to shed light on the special challenges that Turkey's EU bid faces by looking at history and issues of collective identity.

Turkey's entry bid scores mixed points in EU debate | Reuters

The Council's statement on enlargement and the accession process is now out. You can access and download the original document here. Reuters summarizes the gist of the statement, which expresses 'deep regret' that Turkey is not living up to the so-called Additional Protocol (which would have Turkey opens its ports to ships flying the Cypriot flag), 'welcomes' the recent constitutional reform as an 'important step in the right direction,' but notes that 'further progress is needed.' The Council

encourages Turkey to further improve the observance of fundamental rights and freedoms in law and in practice.

The statement also suggests that the opening up of the competition chapter can be achieved early next year.

Turkey's entry bid scores mixed points in EU debate | Reuters