EU-Turkey Relations at a Critical Juncture
On Wednesday, April 8th, 2009, The Levin Institute, in partnership with The American Turkish Society and the London School of Economics and Political Science, hosted a lecture by Sevket Pamuk on “EU-Turkey Relations at a Critical Juncture.” Professor Pamuk is Chair of Contemporary Turkish Studies at the London School of Economics and a leading economic historian of the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East, and Turkey. Ambassador Mr. Fernando Valenzuela, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the UN provided opening remarks, and the discussion was moderated by Levin President, Garrick Utley.
Professor Pamuk’s lecture discussed Turkey’s long journey to membership in the European Union. He began by citing the Ankara Agreement of 1963, which was the first formal agreement that created a common market between Turkey and Europe. Pamuk traced the progress of Turkish/EU relations since then.
In 2002, when the EU first considered Turkey as a candidate country for membership to the Union, Turkey began work on liberalizing their political system. According to Pamuk, the country made major advances in ethnic and religious freedoms, developed a strong market economy, instilled fiscal discipline and established a “zero problem” foreign policy agenda with neighboring countries.
He mentioned that after 2005 election, the AK Party stopped pursuing political liberalization reforms and Turkey has seen an increasingly conservative religious social agenda. Pamuk also discussed how the impact of the current economic crisis has complicated the process of negotiating EU membership. 
Recently, leading governments in Europe have questioned the viability of Turkey’s EU membership, even if it attained the Copenhagen requirements. In response to EU sentiment, a nationalist backlash has emerged in Turkey. European voices of opposition are strengthening anti-EU sentiment in Turkey, and Turkish skeptics of EU membership have strengthened European doubts.
Professor Pamuk discussed what an EU-Turkish alliance might look like. For the EU, Turkey could provide an important partner for energy security. Turkey would provide a diversification of transport routes for energy from the Middle East to Europe. In addition, industrial growth and exports have been flourishing in Turkey under the customs union. Turkey is starting to transform demographically and is following the pattern of most EU countries with declining birth rates and an increase in median age. An EU membership for Turkey would also probably mean increased secularization.
In the end, Pamuk stated that doubts about Turkish membership are not based on economics, demographics or foreign policy, but instead on cultural differences. The negotiation of Turkish membership will provide the EU with an opportunity to demonstrate whether they are an organization with a “clash of civilizations” view of the world, or an organization based on shared values as stated in the Copenhagen Criteria.
Pamuk summed up by stating that Turkish membership in the EU remains a long-term goal and he hopes that the benefits of Turkish integration will become increasingly clear to the European Union.
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