ANALYSIS - Turks want to be 'equal partners' of Europe

By Yusuf Ozcan

PARIS (AA) - By delaying Turkey’s EU accession, Europe is denying the country its well-deserved international place, a French political analyst has told Anadolu Agency.

Jana Jabbour, a professor of political science and researcher at the International Research Center (CERI) of Sciences Po University in Paris, spoke to Anadolu Agency recently about Turkey-EU relations and the European perspective on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development (AK) Party.

After tension rose between Turkey and some EU states following last year's defeated coup attempt, some politicians, particularly in Germany, publicly proposed halting accession talks amid a non-binding vote by the European Parliament on shelving discussions.

The European Council will discuss Turkey's negotiations next month, although some member states like Hungary, Finland, Lithuania and Ireland have openly opposed German proposals to suspend talks.

For Jabbour, EU-Turkey relations have been tense for years and more so with the rise of the AK Party to power 16 years ago.

"There is a misunderstanding ... Europeans understand very badly the ambitions of Turkey," she said. "Europeans tend to see Turkey as this extensible power, a power that wants to restore the Ottoman Empire, to impose at all costs, a power that leads an Islamist policy.

"And this is a misunderstanding. In reality if we look to Turkish policy, to the policy adopted by the AK Party, what President Erdogan and his government want is to put Turkey in the international sphere...and give it the place it deserves, a place worthy of its greatness."

The researcher went on to say that all Turks want “is to be recognized as an equal partner by the Europeans".

However, according to Jabbour, Europeans continue to deny Turkey's international place and accuse Erdogan of being an "authoritarian, Islamist" president.

Jabbour said European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have a hard time in accepting "an Eastern, strong and powerful leader ... who dares to say ‘no’ to the EU when needed.

"Nowadays we have Middle-eastern and Eastern leaders who only play a basal role for the EU and the West in general."

The expert said EU leaders kept finding excuses, and claiming "Turkey has never been European and even say ‘Turks don't want to be part of the EU’."

"In reality the rise of euroscepticism in Turkey is a normal to reaction to the EU's 'Turcscepticism'," she said.

Jabbour said the rise of an “anti-Turkey wave” is also growing in France, not just in Germany.

"Today in France we can see a … clear anti-Turkey wave, in the media, even in literature and books written on Turkey."

However, Jabbour said French President Emmanuel Macron is acting more pragmatically than Merkel and does not support suspending negotiations with Turkey "because he knows that Turkey should not be put aside.

"He [Macron] knows that the EU needs Turkey to lead the war against terrorism, in particular against Daesh in Syria, but most importantly to solve the refugee crisis."

Jabbour also said the Turkish president has brought Turkey onto the international stage with its outstanding presence at the latest G20 meeting and by getting involved in humanitarian acts in practically all continents.

"Erdogan has chosen to side by the oppressed of the world; he defends the Palestinian cause, and, more recently, stood by the side of the Rohingya Muslims".

*Hajer M’tiri contributed to this report from Paris.