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Anti-Turkey rhetoric undermines Turks’ support for EU bid
According to the results of a Eurobarometer survey -- a series of surveys regularly performed on behalf of the European Commission since 1973 -- released by the EU on Monday, only 45 percent of people in Turkey support the EU membership process. This figure was almost 80 percent in 2004 -- the year when EU leaders agreed during a December summit that Turkey had sufficiently fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria related to democracy and the rule of law and therefore was able to open negotiations for full EU membership.
The latest Standard Eurobarometer survey was carried out between Oct. 23 to Nov. 18 of this year, and it was conducted in 31 countries and territories, including the 27 EU member states, the three candidate countries -- Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey -- and the Turkish Cypriot community, which is not represented in the EU.
Responses from Turkey’s 1,002 interviewees in the latest survey showed that the support for EU membership decreased by 3 percent, from 48 percent to 45 percent, in last six months.
The EU opened accession talks with Ankara -- an EU candidate since 1999 -- in October 2005, but these talks have been progressing slowly amid opposition from France and Germany. The unresolved Cyprus dispute and a slowdown of reforms in Turkey are other factors hampering the accession process.
According to the survey, 63 percent of Turks cited unemployment as “the top national concern,” while terrorism is the second biggest concern for Turks at 47 percent.
When asked, “Taking everything into account, would you say that ‘our country’ has on balance benefited or not from being a member of the EU?” 50 percent of Turks replied affirmatively. This figure was 57 percent in the previous Eurobarometer survey, conducted six months ago.
The survey also revealed that trust in the European Parliament among Turks has dropped from 27 percent to 19 percent in last six months, while trust in the European Commission dropped from 20 percent to 18 percent during the same period of time. Overall, unemployment is the “top national concern” in 19 of the bloc’s 27 member states, according to the poll of 30,000 people in 31 nations and territories across Europe.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are the most high-profile European politicians opposed to Turkey’s accession. Sarkozy claims Turkey does not belong in Europe, while Merkel promotes a “privileged partnership” that falls short of membership, a formula Ankara categorically rejects. In Berlin in May, Merkel and Sarkozy made a joint statement declaring that they shared a common position regarding Turkey’s accession to the EU, in that it should be offered a privileged partnership, not full EU membership.
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