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Turkey's EU PR Campaign

20.10.2014 10:42

Since the reshuffle of Turkey's political elite following Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's move to the presidency, Ankara has been telling us there is a “New Turkey.” So far, I do not see that much new. I think a better description would be the “new old Turkey” because it looks rather like the Turkey of the 1990s in many ways. Nevertheless, there have been some changes, one of the most noticeable being a renewed interest in the EU. Newly appointed Minister for European Integration Volkan Bozkir has been particularly active since his appointment. It seems that Ankara wants to reverse the bad press it has been attracting in Europe, which more or less began with the Gezi Park anti-government protests in May- June 2013. He is on a mission to turn the picture around and convince EU officials and member states that Turkey is serious about its relations with the EU and carrying out reforms, with priority placed on those countries that are most skeptical about Turkey's accession.This week he travelled t

Since the reshuffle of Turkey's political elite following Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's move to the presidency, Ankara has been telling us there is a “New Turkey.” So far, I do not see that much new. I think a better description would be the “new old Turkey” because it looks rather like the Turkey of the 1990s in many ways.

Nevertheless, there have been some changes, one of the most noticeable being a renewed interest in the EU. Newly appointed Minister for European Integration Volkan Bozkir has been particularly active since his appointment. It seems that Ankara wants to reverse the bad press it has been attracting in Europe, which more or less began with the Gezi Park anti-government protests in May- June 2013. He is on a mission to turn the picture around and convince EU officials and member states that Turkey is serious about its relations with the EU and carrying out reforms, with priority placed on those countries that are most skeptical about Turkey's accession.
This week he travelled to Germany before heading to Brussels where he spoke to members of the European Parliament and EU officials, while also making a public speech at the think tank Carnegie. During a press conference he stated, “In recent years, a picture in which facts and perceptions on Turkey do not correspond has grown, together with a negative perception about our country in European public opinion.”
The bad press about Turkey can been put into at least four categories: the erosion of democratic values and civil liberties, corruption, a witch-hunt against those that are reportedly conspiring against the government; questions over Turkey's loyalty to its NATO allies and its relationship with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL); its failed “zero problems with neighbors policy”; and most recently Ankara signaling that it is preparing to send a vessel to the edge of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus, south of the island, as a consequence of gas drilling that Turkey believes should not take place until after a settlement to the decades-old Cyprus problem.
So far Bozkir is focusing on informing people about the new communications strategy that he calls “Strong Turkey, Strong EU.” However, convincing people to have a different perception of Turkey will be far from easy. In order to reverse the trend, concrete steps will need to be taken. Yet this will require, to some degree, acknowledging that perhaps some mistakes have been made. This is where we run into problems. During the meeting at Carnegie when Minister Bozkir was asked a number of questions about problems related to the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, the freedom of the media and Turkey's neighborhood, he responded in the following way. While stressing he had publically stated that he was against the Twitter ban, he gave not concrete response to the other points. Rather, he said he did not believe Turkey had backtracked on any of the reforms it had previously implemented; that steps were under way to strengthen the judiciary; problems related to media freedoms were mainly down to editors of the newspapers themselves rather than the government; that Turkey did not cause difficulties with its neighbors: “Our policies were not wrong, we wanted to avoid what is happening now.”
Nevertheless, the EU has welcomed Turkey's softer approach. It wants Ankara as a reliable partner, fully supporting efforts to defeat ISIL. Furthermore, the fact that Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) have had two big electoral wins this year has made some in the EU less concerned over democratic backsliding.
However, Turkey issuing a NAVTEX (Navigational Telex) notifying mariners that Ankara was reserving areas south of Cyprus for seismic surveys from Oct. 20 to Dec. 30 has served to increase tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean at a time of great turmoil in the region. The Greek Cypriots have suspended reunification talks, accusing Turkey of violating their sovereign rights and international law. While President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy has said it is essential that all parties respect the sovereignty of others and that he expects Turkey to “show restraint,” Turkey has responded by saying that the EU does not understand the gas drilling crisis in Cyprus and its causes. Therefore, it is difficult to paint a different picture and perception of Turkey when Ankara is taking actions that demonstrate the opposite.

AMANDA PAUL (Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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