Country Watch
A Look at the Economic, Political, and Social Events that Shape International Law Around the World
Negotiations Over Turkey’s Accession to EU Delayed
Turkey is entering its eighth year of negotiation discussions to gain accession into the European Union (EU). In November 2013, Turkey resumed talks with the EU to negotiate for Turkey’s acces- sion. The talks were originally set to take place in June 2013, but were forcibly delayed by Germany and other member states after concerns arose fol- lowing the Turkish government’s forcible handling of a protest in the capital city of Ankara. Had the talks continued as planned, negotiations would have been reopened for the first time in nearly three years.
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Delays in negotiations are not uncommon. Tur- key and the EU were previously forced to halt negotiations when disagreements over Turkey’s obligations to the Island of Cyprus resulted in the creation of a major negotiation barrier for Turkish accession. Turkey has controlled the northern third of the island (the Turkish Republic of Northern Cy- prus) since July 1974. The Turkish portion of the island, however, enjoys no international recogni- tion and is not a member of the EU. In contrast, the remaining portion of the island is controlled by Greece, enjoys international recognition, and is a member of the EU. Turkey refuses to recognize Cyprus’s EU member status, and has continually denied Cyprus port access – thus violating its ob- ligations under an EU trade pact mandating such access.
Turkey’s violation of its obligations creates a direct linkage to a second major accession barrier: Tur- key cannot accede into the EU without negotiat- ing all EU chapters of the acquis. The acquis, or rules of the EU, are contained in 35 chapters cov- ering a wide variety of issues such as Intellectual
Property (chapter 7) and Social Policy and Employ- ment (chapter 19). The acquis are non-negotiable, although candidate countries are permitted to negotiate specific conditions and timelines relat- ing to the “adoption, implementation and enforce- ment” of the acquis. Turkey’s refusal to grant Cy- prus port access creates further complications for Turkey; the EU has frozen discussions on eight of the 35 chapters until Turkey resolves its issue with Cyprus. If Turkey cannot resolve the issue, it can- not negotiate the chapters; if Turkey cannot suc- cessfully negotiate all chapters, it cannot accede. The chapters remained frozen as of the November 2013 negotiations.
A third, smaller barrier has arisen from strong op- position by France and Germany, who have pub- licly opposed Turkish accession since official ne- gotiations began in 2005. The countries believe that cultural differences will lead to difficulties in integrating the Turkish peoples. The majority of Turkey’s 76 million citizens are Muslim, whereas the majority of France and Germany’s citizens identify with Christian denominations.
The majority of citizens in both Turkey and EU member countries have shown only lukewarm reception to the possibility of Turkey’s accession to the EU. The Turkish population, especially, is be- coming increasingly apathetic. Domestic support for accession is low, and could reach all time lows if negotiations keep stagnating. Some Turkish of- ficials, such as minister for EU Affairs Egemen Bagis, have all but accepted the fact that Turkey may never obtain EU member status. Additionally, public support among the Turkish population is steadily waning. A recent poll recorded that barely 45 percent of Turkish citizens support EU acces- sion. While this is only a small decrease from poll results in 2012 (recording support at 48 percent),
ILSA Quarterly » volume 22 » issue 3 » February 2014
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