The EU’s relationship with Turkey is failing
What Europe does now will be a test of its foreign-policy seriousness
Print edition | Europe
Jul 27th 2019
Mustafa kemal ataturk anchored Turkey in Europe and the wider West after the collapse of the Ottoman empire. About a century on Recep Tayyip Erdogan is reversing that process. The Turkish president’s successive power grabs have edged the country closer to its eastern neighbours and rendered its application for eu membership a joke. Two recent incidents have made matters worse. On July 12th the Turkish air force acquired a Russian s-400 surface-to-air missile system, prompting its exclusion from nato’s f-35 stealth-fighter-jet programme. Then on July 15th the eu imposed sanctions over Turkey’s drilling for gas in waters around Cyprus, a member of the union whose northern third remains controlled by Turkey.
More:The EU’s relationship with Turkey is failing - Charlemagne