Interesting to see both President Gul and PM Erdogan finally on the same page again on EU accession - Erdogan has recently become much more luke warm on the whole EU accession story, as reflected in the move to cozy up for a Shanghai "Surprise" with the existing Five - leaving Gul to bang the drum for EU-related reforms. The two have increasingly appeared as rivals on the domestic political scene in Turkey, with Gul appearing as the defender of EU reform principals, against Erdogan's drive to create an executive presidency.
I guess there is no surprise that opinion polls show diminishing support for EU accession in Turkey in recent years - a reflection that Turks have kind of got the message from continental Europe that different rules apply when it comes to Turkish EU accession (the EU is still struggling to explain how it let Bulgaria and Romania in in 2007, and yet is still struggling so much with Turkey's entry). I always thought it strange how the EU was okay with Turkish troops (in NATO) for 50-odd years keeping the Communist hoards away from the Gates of Vienna, but when it came to letting these same (now former) Communists thru the gate of the into EU in 2004 and then 2007 that the former Communists states seemed to get a leg up over their the EU's Turkish allies - a 1,000 years o history and prejudice then seemed to take precedence over recent history. But as Jacques Chirac famously quipped "the French people will decide on Turkish EU accession" - actually Chirac was wrong, the Turkish people will decide, and they might just vote no. And as Erdogan quipped today, given the dire state of Europe these days, and given Turkey's favourable growth rates, demographics, and clean banks, plus regional links, it might actually be in need of Turks and Turkey sooner than it might think. Interesting that in recent days La France has indicated that it might agree to lift its veto on another 2 chapters of the 5 acquis currently stapped by Paris.
Does all this matter? Well investors dont seem to care, they are in Turkey not for the EU accession angle but because Turkey is a good place to do business. However, I still do think that the EU accession anchor is a positive in terms of broader economic/political reform in Turkey. So today's comments by Gul/Erdogan are still positive in my view.
Source: bne