While Turkey's full membership is a perspective settled at the European Council, which is binding on every signatory country, Germany's insistence on making this perspective debatable at every opportunity is depreciating both Germany and Europe in the eyes of Turks.We know that this attitude is pushed not by Germany, but by Angela Merkel, the chancellor of the coalition government and the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). But since Merkel is speaking in her capacity of as German chancellor, this is a detail that may not be obvious to the man in the street. Moreover, despite the fact this is a matter that is legally settled and about which nothing can be done, Merkel's preference to keep it hot and use it as a manipulative vehicle for domestic politics does not fit well with Germany's image in people's minds.
Moreover, it is hard to understand what Germany can gain from waging an anti-Turkey stance other than the increased distance between two nations. As a matter of fact, while the full membership target is set, its time is uncertain. Even if the time of full membership eventually comes, will not the individual approval of all EU members for Turkey's membership be asked? Then what is the use of pursuing an anti-Turkey position at this time?
Moreover, the fact the German chancellor scuffling with Turkey has close relations with a particular media group in Turkey raises suspicions about both parties. Why should Merkel choose to be on friendly terms with a Turkish media groups while it raises complaints against Turkey? On the other hand, why does this media group, which seemingly supports the EU process, have such close relations with a person who so aggressively works against Turkey's EU membership?
These questions lead us to the other poisonous factor: intertwining bilateral relations with domestic politics. Thus, in the tension between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and this media group, Germany emerges as a concerned party. The fact that when the war between this media group and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reached its peak, the Deniz Feneri (Lighthouse) case was launched in Germany and the fact that it directly targeted Erdoğan makes it impossible to see this incident as a simple coincidence.
Meanwhile, the German media started to publish news stories that targeting the AK Party and Erdoğan at every opportunity while in Turkey the news stories showed Germany as the base for anti-Turkey conspiracies. These stories tend to turn a blind eye to Cem Özdemir and Joschka Fischer's Greens Party and the German Social Democrats, who support Turkey's membership, instead declaring Germany totally anti-Turkish. In response, the German media opt to equate Erdoğan with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad because of his initial opposition to Anders Fogh Rasmussen's candidacy for the NATO leadership, but seem to forget the fact that it is the AK Party government that has made the biggest progress in the country's EU bid and that Erdoğan is the first Turkish prime minister to tell the Turks in Germany to "consider this as your homeland; integrate with it and learn German." Another example of how bilateral relations are politicized is that the German judiciary has played a highly active role in the Deniz Feneri case that caused much annoyance for the AK Party, while dragging its feet with respect to the controversial monetary relations that are claimed to exist between the Republican People's Party (CHP) and another German foundation. Likewise, the tendency of the Turkish media to seek racist motives behind every fire without waiting for the end of investigations is adding fuel to mutually negative perceptions.
While the activities in Turkey of German foundations, which cannot be considered to be typical nongovernmental organizations because they are financially supported by the German state, were being discussed, Necip Hablemitoğlu, who was investigating these activities, was mysteriously killed, and this raises suspicions. In this negative atmosphere, Germany providing a safe haven to radical groups such as the Kaplancılar, its special relations with Alevi groups and its stance regarding the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are debated behind the scenes.
The factors that poison bilateral relations are not restricted to these. We will need to discuss the remaining factors in another article.
