Caspian Report - Issue 06 - Winter 2014

Chancellor Merkel’s efforts to satisfy
conservative voters. German federal
elections were also approaching.
With the veto, Merkel avoided German
conservatives’ criticism of her
party’s traditional Turkey policy, and
subsequently a loss of last-minute
votes. The German veto also attracted
heavy criticism from European leaders.
Carl Bildt, Sweden’s Foreign Minister
stated:
“German elections are a good thing,
but it cannot be an excuse to postpone
everything else in Europe.” 18
Carl Bildt’s statement seemed to regard
the role of Turkey’s EU accession
process in the German federal
elections and German government’s
business-like approach to EU-Turkey
relations.
The official reason for the German
veto and the EU decision not to restart
negotiations until after the release of
the progress report was the Turkish
government’s handling of the Gezi
Park protests. However, it should not
be forgotten that only three Member
States vetoed the opening of Chapter
22: Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.
These are three Member States
with high Turkish migrant populations,
where the “Turkish issue” has
always played an important role in
domestic politics. Another interesting
point is that two of these three countries
- Germany along with Austria
- were in pre-election mode. In a similar
vein, Eurosceptic and anti-immigration
parties were gaining strength:
in Germany, the recently established
the Alternative for Germany (AfD)
THE OFFICIAL REASON FOR THE GERMAN VETO AND THE
EU DECISION NOT TO RESTART NEGOTIATIONS UNTIL
AFTER THE RELEASE OF THE PROGRESS REPORT WAS
THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT’S HANDLING OF THE GEZI
PARK PROTESTS.
and in Austria, the Freedom Party of
Austria (FPÖ). Thus, centre-right parties
could have easily lost some votes
if their voter bases had noticed a drift
from the parties’ traditional Turkey
policies.
POST-ELECTION ATMOSPHERE:
RENEWED INTEREST IN TURKEY’S
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
STABILITY
In the aftermath of the German federal
elections, the German government
not only dropped its veto on
Chapter 22, but called for talks on
Chapters 23 and 24. These chapters
focus on judiciary, fundamental
rights, justice, freedom and security.
They are of utmost importance for
Turkey’s democratization process
and the maintenance of a stable political
environment. Turkey’s political
stability is very important
for Germany. Around 6000 German
companies currently operate in Turkey,
and most manage their regional
operations from Turkey. The political
turmoil during the Gezi Park
protests revealed the strong connection
between political and economic
stability; the Turkish stock market
experienced its biggest daily drop in
a decade and the Turkish lira lost its
value. Such incidents greatly affected
German companies’ performance in
Turkey. Accordingly, Markus Kerber,
65
CASPIAN REPORT, WINTER 2014
18
. Bruno Waterfield, “EU delays Turkish membership talks amid protests”, The Telegraph, 25 June 2013