“What we are witnessing is hypocrisy on multiple levels,” reporter Hugo Dixon writes in his opinion piece for the magazine.
In the past, the author explains, EU accession talks have been a tool for countries with "illiberal backgrounds to make a transition to democracy, rule of law and human rights.” The EU sets a series of conditions countries need to meet in order to join the club and their leaders then beaver away for years to satisfy them.
The above process worked well with a number of countries, including Greece, Portugal and a number of the Eastern European countries.
“With Turkey, though, the process isn’t working,” he says.
“The EU pretends to want Turkey as a member but many of its citizens would be horrified at the prospect of a country of 78 million people, most of them Muslims, having free movement throughout the Union. Liberal values, of course, include non-discrimination on the basis of religion, but the EU may lack the courage of its convictions when it comes to Islam.”
The EU also pretends to care about democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Turkey, the author states. But it barely mentions these, fearing that doing so would “infuriate Sultan Erdogan and make him less amenable to slowing the flow of refugees.”
However, the journalist says, “Turkey is becoming more illiberal and authoritarian under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”
“What they shouldn’t do is continue with the current course that involves a transactional relationship dressed up as part of an accession process that nobody really believes in.”
