Τουρκία : Ο απολυταρχισμός του Ερντογάν

ÖMER TAŞPINAR o.taspinar@todayszaman.com

Can external pressure stop authoritarianism?

In the absence of domestic checks and balances against growing authoritarianism at home, many critics of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government hope that external dynamics may play a mitigating role.

The question of whether the EU and Washington should get more vocal in their criticism of Ankara depends on whether these external actors have some leverage to impact the actions of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. For instance, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told Erdoğan during the Turkish leader's first visit to Brussels in five years, in January 2014, that respect for rule of law and independence of the judiciary were essential conditions for EU membership. Will such friendly warnings have an impact? The short answer is “no.” Turkey took its most serious reformist legislative steps toward EU membership between 2003 and 2005, during the AKP's first term and when there was strong momentum to begin accession. Today, neither Ankara nor Brussels are very optimistic about membership prospects. There are serious obstacles, ranging from Cyprus to negative French and German public opinion about Turkish membership that complicate the future of Turkey-EU relations.