The probe and the EU process

Turkey's bid to become an EU member is so old that we have a lot of examples of this. The crisis we are in right now is only the most recent one. The EU process is like riding a bicycle; if you don't move forward, you'll tip over.

That said, we know that the EU also has its share of responsibility for Turkey's political turmoil. One mustn't think that Brussels or individual members of the EU have always helped Turkey maintain its political stability. In fact, whenever Turkey seemed to be getting close to the EU, certain European countries did everything possible to get Turkey into trouble. Maybe their aim was to prove that Turkey isn't worthy of joining the EU.

That's not to say that crises, like the current one provoked by a broad corruption investigation, are always useless. Investigating corruption allegations is the best way to expose illegal, secret and dark relations within the state, and such probes may lead to purification. Let's hope the current investigation helps to improve accountability in Turkey.

It's not possible right now to foresee how the current crisis will affect relations between the EU and Turkey, not only because we can't know what Ankara will do in this corruption case, but also because we don't yet know if the EU will lend us a helping hand in the matter.

We don't have enough clues to understand the EU's stance on Turkey's growing political crisis, which started with the Gezi Park protests and took on another dimension with the prep school debate and now this spectacular corruption operation. We can form some ideas, however.  

It's interesting to notice that the EU recently stepped up its positive messages to Turkey. The EU's high representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton, for example, underscored a few days ago Turkey's importance for the EU's foreign and security policies. Of course, it is not ideal for Turkey to be seen as important only in terms of the EU's foreign policy, as the country doesn't want to remain an external player, but wants to become a part of the EU system.  

Statements emphasizing Turkey's role as one of the EU's foreign partners are not enough to contribute to Turkey's political or economic stability. Besides, in order to remain important for the EU's foreign policy, Turkey has to preserve its democratic stability and economic growth. As long as Turkey remains outside the EU, no one can guarantee that it will manage to remain a stable country. In other words, if the EU thinks that Turkey is likely to stay outside the union, then it mustn't expect long-term stability there. However, the EU isn't ready to let Turkey in just to ensure its stability, either.   

We can observe that many people are quite happy about the current scandal, as they hope the probe will damage both the government and the Hizmet movement. The former is accused of being deeply corrupt and the latter of forming a state within the state; one side's guilt will not absolve the other of its mistake. All this turmoil reminds us that, before anything else, Turkey needs accountability.

Turkey has to have a transparent judiciary and law enforcement agencies. It is not hard to find out what can be done to improve transparency and accountability in the country, as extensive measures have been enumerated in EU progress reports for many years. Nevertheless, the fact that Turkish governments are never sure whether or not Turkey will one day become a member of the EU is a big obstacle. If we are not to become a member one day, why should try to do what is difficult to achieve -- i.e., democratization and harmonization with EU legislation?