Europe Must Re-Engage With Turkey Now
Ursula Von Der Leyen has the opportunity to reset badly strained relations between the EU and Turkey.
Time to show a new way for EU-Turkey relations.
Photographer: Francois Walschaerts/AFP
At her confirmation hearing at the European Parliament last week, Ursula von der Leyen, outlined a set of political guidelines for the new Commission that she will soon be chairing. The presentation included a separate section entitled, “A stronger Europe in the world,” summarizing her aspirations for the European Union’s external action. Conspicuously absent from her brief was any reference to Turkey, an important neighbor and a candidate country.
This omission is testimony to the current dilemma facing EU policy makers. The relationship with Turkey has been allowed to degrade to such an extent that even top policy makers prefer to steer away from this difficult topic. As a result, the relations are now almost exclusively colored by mutual reactionism.