Did her arrival and contacts with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül defuse this tension? Somewhat. Mr. Erdoğan’s proposal to open Turkish high schools in Germany for Turkish youngsters was accepted by Ms. Merkel on the condition that these schools would not inhibit Turkish children from learning sufficient German and integrating into the society they are living in. It couldn’t be otherwise because neither the Turkish migrant population that has settled in Germany would want schools to detach their children from the culture of the society they have opted to live in, nor would the German authorities allow an alien population to perpetually recreate itself and remain distant from the society they should be a productive part of. So Erdoğan’s emphasis on Turkish high schools in Germany was more of a tactical and emotional effort of getting something back when higher expectations were not met.Other than that, not much was cooked up between the two heads of government. Ms. Merkel reiterated her stance on Turkey’s association with the European Union in a “special way” but offered no future in it. She emphasized the need for Turkey to recognize the Greek Cypriot government as the sole legitimate political body and open her ports to Cypriot ships and planes. However, the Turkish government had no stomach for this.
This means large parts of the membership negotiations will remain blocked because of Turkey’s refusal to open its ports to Greek Cypriot goods and vessels. Turkey’s refusal to grant trade privileges to Cyprus has led Brussels to freeze talks in eight of the 35 chapters that candidates must successfully negotiate prior to membership. Of course, EU member states expediently forget the fact that it was not the Turks but the Greeks of Cyprus who turned down the chance to create a mutual government in a referendum held on the island back in 2004.
Ms. Merkel did not depart from supporting her country’s ban on dual citizenship, which makes it impossible for Turks in Germany to acquire German passports while keeping their Turkish ID papers. Her reasoning was straightforward: “What we want is people who live among us over several generations to integrate into this country; that obviously involves learning the German language and obeying German laws.”
Once again she raised Turkish hackles by reiterating her long-standing opposition to Turkish membership in the EU, offering Ankara a “privileged partnership,” a unique status that has not been conferred on any other country that has negotiated its way to membership. For Ms. Merkel, this meant that Turkey could conform to some 80 percent of EU law. It did not take too long to get the Turkish side’s reply. “Such a thing as a privileged partnership does not exist, so we do not take that option seriously,” said Egemen Bağış, state minister and chief EU negotiator. He added: “At times, I feel insulted by being offered something which does not exist.”
It is almost certain that the existing political tensions between Germany and Turkey will grow as Turkey builds itself into a formidable regional power straddling Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, while Europe’s economic woes grow and its solidarity declines together with its self-confidence. In fact, this trend has put many Turks off their initial desire for membership in the EU. What was once 70 percent support for the EU has dwindled to 38 percent nowadays.
Ms. Merkel urged the Turkish leaders to back Western allies in imposing a possible fresh set of sanctions over Iran’s suspected efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. “If Iran fails to take a clear step shortly, we will decide on the sanctions issue. ... Germany would be very happy if we could vote together with the United States, Europe and Turkey,” she said. In return, Erdoğan emphasized that he remained opposed to new sanctions against Iran and preferred diplomacy until Iran is proven to be doing wrong.
Despite a friendly but relatively fruitless visit, there are two very important factors that unite Germany and Turkey. Primarily, the two countries are principal economic partners in the European theater. Bilateral trade amounted to almost 25 billion euros ($36 billion) in 2008. More than 4,000 German companies operate or have partnerships in Turkey. Secondly, close to 3 million Turks in Germany link the two countries economically, politically (there are German politicians of Turkish-Kurdish descent) and socially -- there are many mixed marriages. A part of the economic value produced in Germany is due to this large Turkish enclave. However, such deep bonds have not yet been rewarded by the politicians of the two sides and carried to a higher level. Maybe another generation or election will do it.
