Judicial concerns mount as Erdogan plans EU visit

Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Brussels on 21 January, the first time in three years that Turkey’s prime minister will have been to the European Union’s headquarters.

The visit, though long in the making, will come at a particularly dynamic moment in Turkey’s relations with the EU. Talks on Turkey’s bid for membership of the EU resumed in November after a hiatus of three-and-a-half years and in mid-December Turkey signed an agreement on the return of illegal migrants, a deal accompanied by the launch of talks to ease visas for Turks.

However, EU concerns about the state of democracy in Turkey, aggravated last spring by the government’s heavy-handed clampdown on protestors, have been reinforced in the past month by a clash between Erdogan and the judiciary in the wake of sweeping investigations into corruption. Erdogan has described the investigations as part of a bid for power by a former ally, Fethullah Gülen.

Štefan Füle, the European commissioner for the neighbourhood, on 27 December said that some government responses – including “the removal of a large number of police officers from their duties” – had “undermined the independence of the judiciary and its capacity to act”.

Europe minister

The corruption scandal has already had a direct effect on Turkey’s management of ties with the EU. After the resignation of three ministers whose children are under investigation, Erdogan made ten changes to his cabinet, including replacing the Europe minister, Egemen Bagis.

Bagis¸ handed responsibilities over to Mevlüt Çavusoglu on 26 December, highlighting a massive increase in diplomatic resources devoted to EU issues during his five-year tenure as Europe minister as well as his successor’s international experience. Çavusoglu has long been a senior party official, and is well connected in capitals in Europe, thanks in part to his presidency of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe in 2010-12.

One of Çavusoglu’s first jobs was to put the finishing touches to a government report on Turkey’s preparations for EU membership, a counterpoint to the progress report published by the European Commission in October. Çavusoglu’s report, published on 1 January, describes as “unfounded” EU criticisms of Turkey’s record in two core areas: the judiciary and fundamental rights; and justice, freedom and security. The 263-page report nonetheless underscores that “the EU accession process is the most significant modernisation project of Turkey after the proclamation of the Republic”.

Click Here: Maori All Blacks Store