Once strong supporter of Turkey, Liberals now skeptical due to Erdoğan

One of the strongest indications that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's policies in the wake of the Dec. 17 corruption scandal have irked many in Brussels is the “unsurprising” change of the Liberals' policy vis-à-vis Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

The Liberals have long been a champion of Turkey's accession to the EU, but no longer, according to one of the Liberals' heavyweights in the European Parliament (EP). Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, the vice chairman of the Liberals in the EP, has publicly declared that accession talks should be suspended until the Turkish government returns to the direction of the EU.

This is the first time the Liberals, who have consistently backed Turkey's aspirations for membership, have become increasingly critical of the direction taken by Turkey, particularly in the wake of the corruption scandal of Dec. 17 and by the way Erdoğan's government has handled it so far.

Another senior member of the Liberals, British MEP Andrew Duff, agreed with Lambsdorff, stating they could not continue to heap criticism on Turkey and still argue for the opening of more accession chapters.

Criticizing EP Turkey rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruijten's recent Turkey report for not drawing conclusions, not mentioning the spat between Erdoğan and the Gülen movement and the bolstering of the powers of security forces in Turkey, Duff accused Erdoğan of not being sincere in accession talks with the EU.

After the EP adopted its harshest progress report on Turkey on Tuesday, Lambsdorff accepted that his group's stance on Turkey has shifted towards a more skeptical position. In an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman right after the voting in the plenary, the German politician reiterated that accession negotiations should be suspended until Turkey changes its course towards Europe again. Lambsdorff, who is also the shadow rapporteur of his group on Turkey, said they no longer believe Turkey is fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria.

“As you know, we are a pro-Turkey group but we have come to the conclusion that Turkey is no longer fulfilling the Copenhagen Criteria to be able to engage in accession talks based on the new law on the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors [HSYK], Prime Minister Erdoğan's remarks on YouTube and Facebook, the situation of the media and the lack of proper judicial proceedings,” Lambsdorff said.

He added that many members of the EP have voiced their belief that Turkey has been drifting away from European values since the corruption scandal erupted in December. Lambsdorff said the progress report was extremely critical but the only thing it did not recommend was the suspension of talks.

He stressed that the EP made it very clear to Erdoğan and his government that Brussels was deeply concerned about the country's policies on the judiciary, media freedom and the removal of so many police officers, judges and prosecutors after Dec. 17. According to the German Liberal, the tone of strong criticism was shared by the entire political spectrum in the parliament, left to right.

“Erdoğan's government is steering the state ship in the wrong direction and he should realize the country will not end up in a European harbor if he continues to chart his country the way he has been doing since Dec. 17,” said Lambsdorff, sharing his belief that the report would not have been this critical had the government taken a different approach to the corruption allegations.

Release of Ergenekon convicts: need for new allies

A long-time critic of long detention periods in coup cases, Lambsdorff said he was not happy that those people had been behind bars for so long but also stressed that it was a “very peculiar coincidence” that most of the people imprisoned in the Ergenekon trials were released when the government needed new allies all of a sudden.

‘Unpardonable scandal'

Duff, who was influential in the shift of the Liberals adopting a more skeptical stance, was also critical on the latest developments regarding the Ergenekon case. “The decision to release the Ergenekon convicts is an important but a destabilizing event. On the one hand, it is good if people who were wrongfully convicted are released. On the other hand, it completely destroys the integrity of the judicial process,” he said.

According to Duff, the Ergenekon convicts were released to discredit the Hizmet movement. “It was done in order to discredit the Gülen movement, which was originally instrumentalized by Erdoğan in the Ergenekon affair. I am sure all this is part of the Justice and Development Party's [AKP] aggressive split with Fethullah Gülen, who is now receiving the blame for every wrongdoing,” he said. As for the release of those who were implicated in the killing of Hrant Dink, Duff said this was an “unpardonable scandal.”

Published on Today's Zaman, 13 March 2014, Thursday