Turkey’s new EU Minister Ömer Çelik was in the Netherlands, the EU’s
term president, on June 9 and 10. This visit followed his trip to
Brussels last week, when he held talks with senior EU officials aimed at
overcoming the impasse on the migrant deal amid ongoing disagreements
on the definition of terrorism. Turkish leaders have been using softer
language in recent days on the continuation of talks with the EU,
reiterating Ankara’s willingness to accomplish the process that would
grant Turkish citizens visa-free travel to the Schengen area in return
for implementing the Readmission Agreement on migrants.
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Technical discussions in Ankara
and Brussels were fruitful, according to diplomatic sources, who
signaled another high-level summit between Turkey and the EU in the
coming weeks, this time with the participation of President Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan.
This will be important for showing that the EU’s sole
interlocutor in sorting this problem out is Erdoğan. It is quite obvious
that both sides need to come to a successful conclusion of this
agreement, which is the best way to stop the irregular migrant flow into
Europe and at the same time help Turkey get closer to the bloc.
It
seems that a common understanding is developing between the two
parties. The EU has assured Turkey that it has no intention to ask the
Turkish government to reduce its capacity in fighting against terror,
particularly in the current circumstances. On the contrary, the meeting
in Brussels provided the two parties with an opportunity to explore how
they can enhance anti-terror cooperation at a time when the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has escalated its terrorist campaign across Turkey.
However,
Turkey-EU ties now face new risks after a controversial constitutional
amendment lifting the legal immunities of 152 MPs went into force this
week. Some 682 out of 799 files, belonging to 139 lawmakers in total,
have been sent to prosecutors’ offices, marking the beginning of a
judicial process that could end up with the arrest of deputies on
terror-related charges.
A majority of these cases belong to
lawmakers from the ranks of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), with
three of its lawmakers now under serious risk of being arrested. Such a
move would not only fuel ongoing violence in the country through
terrorist acts, it would also further escalate political and social
tension, as the HDP has announced that its deputies will not go
voluntarily to the courts.
This situation will also put the Turkey-EU process in danger, as Brussels has already urged Ankara
that lifting immunities would be considered a serious violation of
democratic norms. All EU institutions, many senior officials, as well as
the European Parliament and its MPs, have criticized the Turkish move
which was apparently instructed by President Erdoğan.
The
“immunity” issue will have serious negative consequences both on
Turkey’s already tense internal political and social faultlines and on
its relationship with the West. Increased tension between different
political camps at the funerals of fallen soldiers and other security
personnel, accompanied by the mess created over this immunity question,
will further put Turkey’s stability and unity in danger. Unfortunately
there seems to be no “superior mind” inside the country that can stop
this dangerous course of events.