Protests following the detention and arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu seem to have put Europe in a difficult position.<\/p>\n
In an assessment published in Politico<\/em> titled \u201cEU faces a billion-euro dilemma in T\u00fcrkiye crisis,\u201d politicians and officials cited say that regardless of what happens on the streets of Istanbul, Ankara is too important an ally to alienate.<\/p>\n The report states, \u201cThe European Union will continue to transfer billions of euros to T\u00fcrkiye despite President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s extensive crackdowns on political opponents.\u201d<\/p>\n Recalling that European officials warned their southern neighbor to \u201cuphold democratic values\u201d following Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s arrest, Politico<\/em> writes, \u201cBut T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s strategic importance means the bloc will likely look the other way. Erdo\u011fan knows this too.\u201d<\/p>\n Dimitar Bechev, a lecturer at Oxford University, says, \u201cWhatever the Turkish leader does, the EU will have to follow suit.\u201d<\/p>\n Two European officials, speaking to Politico<\/em> on condition of anonymity, said that T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s EU candidate status requires it to protect democratic values and that Brussels would respond to violations. Although one of them stated, \u201cWe are following the developing situation in T\u00fcrkiye with great concern\u201d and \u201cRecent developments contradict the logic of EU membership,\u201d they also acknowledge that given T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s importance in migration, trade, energy, and defense matters, any reaction from the EU is unlikely to disrupt relations between Brussels and Ankara.<\/p>\n Pointing out that although T\u00fcrkiye’s EU membership negotiations have stalled over the past decade, the country still receives billions of euros in accession funds, Politico<\/em> notes, \u201cAnkara has also received about 9 billion euros in aid to host refugees from the Middle East and is in line to receive large sums to support European defense industries.\u201d<\/p>\n Highlighting that T\u00fcrkiye, which has become a major hub for oil and gas exports, has a trade flow with the EU exceeding 200 billion euros annually, the publication writes, \u201cT\u00fcrkiye has also played a key role in controlling access to the Black Sea and enforcing sanctions against Moscow since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Recently, its potential significant contribution to a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine has been discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n Bechev says, \u201cThe status quo before \u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s arrest was comfortable for the EU because there was enough democracy,\u201d and suggests that recent developments are not dire enough to change this.<\/p>\n According to the \u201cReadiness 2030\u201d plan presented by EU leaders last week, T\u00fcrkiye, as an EU candidate country, has the potential to access 800 billion euros worth of joint procurements from funds designed to increase the bloc\u2019s defense spending.<\/p>\n However, Greece and Cyprus, both long in conflict with T\u00fcrkiye, are pushing for restrictions. Diplomats speaking to Politico<\/em> said they intend to enact a clause requiring the defense move to occur \u201cwithout prejudice to the specific character of the security and defense policy of certain Member States.\u201d<\/p>\n Arguing that Athens and Nicosia, which were in the process of normalizing relations with Ankara before the recent crisis, now have to perform a \u201cdelicate balancing act,\u201d Politico<\/em> quotes a senior Greek official admitting that \u201ceven Athens cannot go too far.\u201d<\/p>\n The Greek official involved says, \u201cOf course, we will support a firm stance condemning the current developments in T\u00fcrkiye, but without being provocative. The defense industry remains a major gap for Europe, which paves the way for this policy of trade-offs that we see happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Cypriot MEP Michalis Hadjipantela, calling for \u201ctargeted sanctions\u201d by stating \u201cEffective pressure from the EU is essential,\u201d also said that \u201csanctions should be targeted and linked to progress on the above issues to prevent further alienation of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Protests following the detention and arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu seem to have put Europe in a difficult position. In an assessment published in Politico titled \u201cEU faces a billion-euro dilemma in T\u00fcrkiye crisis,\u201d politicians and officials cited say that regardless of what happens on the streets of Istanbul, Ankara is too important […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[8536,8531,8532,8533,8143,8538,8534,8526,8524,8528,8522,7215,503,8537,8539,1448,8535,8530,8529,8527,8523,8525],"class_list":["post-8612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diplomacy","tag-ankara-brussels-relations","tag-black-sea-security-turkiye-role","tag-cyprus-turkiye-relations","tag-dimitar-bechev","tag-ekrem-imamoglu","tag-eu-accession-funds","tag-eu-billion-euro-dilemma","tag-eu-democracy-concerns-turkiye","tag-eu-funding-turkiye","tag-eu-turkiye-migration-deal","tag-eu-turkiye-relations","tag-greece-turkiye-relations","tag-headline","tag-political-crackdown","tag-readiness-2030-plan","tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan","tag-targeted-sanctions","tag-turkiye-defense-cooperation-eu","tag-turkiye-energy-hub","tag-turkiye-eu-candidate-status","tag-turkiye-politics","tag-turkiye-strategic-importance"],"yoast_head":"\n