Caspian Report - Issue 06 - Winter 2014

in the sectors of energy and water and
waste management.
GERMAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS
REDISCOVER TURKEY
EBRU TURHAN
62
SUPPORT FROM THE GERMAN
BUSINESS WORLD FOR TURKEY’S
EU MEMBERSHIP
As part of her trip, Merkel attended the
Second Turkish-German CEO Forum
jointly organized by TUSIAD and its
German counterpart BDI, Federation
of German Industries. During her talk
the German Chancellor applauded Turkey’s
economic boom and called for increased
cooperation particularly in the
fields of energy and infrastructure. 11
Following the BDI forum, the voice of
the German industry, a press release
demanded for the first time in many
years a quick decision pertaining to
Turkish membership in the EU, stating
that the future architecture of the EU
might “offer the opportunity for a new
European geometry”. 12 With this statement,
the German business world is
presumably envisioning the construction
of a more flexible and multi-tier
EU-structure in the near future, where
Turkey can contribute to the EU’s economic
stability. This statement is also a
good example of the pressure exerted
by various domestic actors and groups
on the German government in relation
to German interests in Turkey’s EU accession
process.
GUNTHER OETTINGER, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR
ENERGY, CRITICIZED THE LONG-DRAWN-OUT PROCESS
OF TURKEY’S ACCESSION TO THE EU.
A few days prior to and during the visit
of the German Chancellor to Turkey, a
kind of rapprochement between the
German Christian Democrats and
Turkey took place. At that time, highlevel
members of Merkel’s ruling
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and
CDU-near experts openly expressed
their support for Turkey’s EU bid.
They furthermore began to highlight
Turkey’s importance for Europe’s
economic stability and growth, to
question the use of the concept
of “privileged partnership”, and to
signal the opening of new chapters in
Turkey’s accession talks in the near
future.
For instance, Günther Oettinger,
European Commissioner for Energy,
criticized the long-drawn-out process
of Turkey’s accession to the EU and
said, “I would like to bet that one
day in the next decade a German
chancellor and his or her counterpart
in Paris will have to crawl to Ankara on
their knees to beg the Turks, ‘Friends,
come to us”. 13 Ruprecht Polenz, the
then Chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee in the German Bundestag,
remarked, “It is clear to most people
in my party that the idea of ‘privileged
partnership’ is defunct”. 14 In a similar
vein, Hans-Georg Pöttering, former
President of the European Parliament
(EP) and recent Chairman of the CDUnear
Konrad Adenauer Foundation
11
. “Merkel’s Difficult Dialogue with Erdogan“, Deutsche Welle, 23 February 2013
12
. “Grillo: German industry supports continuation of negotiations on membership”, 25 February
2013, http://www.bdi.eu/BDI_english/568_959.htm
13
. “Oettinger kritisiert EU-Kurs zur Türkei“, Bild Zeitung, 20 February 2013
14
. Daniela Vates, “Polenz will die Türkei an die EU binden”, Frankfurter Rundschau, 23 February 2013