We should admit that the last four years have not been the best of times in terms of Turkey-European Union relations. Since the July 15 failed coup attempt, Turkey has felt a lack of trust in its ties with the bloc, primarily because Ankara did not receive the empathy it expected from the EU after the brutal incident. The EU authorities approached the event suspiciously and, even worse, criticized the state of emergency declared following the coup attempt.
There has been a steady decline in diplomatic relations since then; however, this has now begun to change.
The rhetoric has mellowed as both sides voice their intent to turn a new page. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had already noted that Ankara sees Turkey's future in the EU and pointed to reforms and efforts for full membership.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, speaking at a news conference with his Dutch counterpart Stef Blok, said that a window of opportunity has emerged to revive the dialogue between Turkey and the EU. He said last week that the EU and Turkey are working on a road map for enhancing relations, also declaring that Ankara is always ready to improve the ties with any party or institution that extends a positive hand.
Although the French government, Greece and Greek Cyprus have a negative stance toward Turkey, the majority of the EU members, headed by Germany, want to enhance bilateral ties. In other words, they don’t want to lose Turkey.
So if we carefully look at the statements coming from the Turkish government, we see a clear pro-EU stance. However, the negotiation process has slowed down to a minimum level and this has become the new normal.
I think both sides have to start from here. The dynamic should change, public support should improve, and there should be a boost and new energy concerning Turkey and the EU. To reach this goal, media support is crucial but we don’t see much of it on both sides yet.
There should be a media campaign, a positive approach to awaken the soul. I am a journalist who worked in Brussels and Strasbourg in the early 2000s when the negotiations started.
In those days, public support for Turkey’s membership was very high and this was achieved with support from the media. The media in individual countries played a crucial role.
Therefore, if Turkey wants to speed up the pace again, it should work on a media strategy as well. But I should admit that the majority of the EU media has been quite biased in recent years. That is mostly due to the lack of dialogue.
The dialogue channels that were very well functioning 10 years ago should reopen. Turkey should also do its homework considering the steps required to build the rule of law and freedom of expression.
