08.02.2021, Moscow.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, just as in the 2000s, is trying to use Europe’s support for his political goals, Turkish expert Ivan Starodubtsev wrote on February 8 on his Turkey – is (in Russian) \ Turkey – is Telegram channel.
Starodubtsev noted that within the framework of the idea of political Islam the EU actively participated and provided moral support for political reforms undertaken by the then Prime Minister and now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party in the 2000s.
“Let it not come as a surprise that Turkey’s traditional secular elites – the judiciary and the military – failed, when they still could, to cope with Erdoğan and his party. Although considerable experience in, for example, banning political parties in Turkey was amassed. But, for example, the case of banning the Justice and Development Party in 2008 failed,” the expert noted.
He added that “the EU itself” “blessed” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s political reforms by making Turkey a full-fledged candidate for the EU membership in 2005, and up to 2011 the Europeans called Turkey “the rising star of the region.”
According to him, as a result of political reforms in Turkey, the military returned to barracks and judges lost their former influence, and the current vertical of power was established in the country.
“And if today the EU has any complaints against Turkey, its political system and personally the leader of the Turkish state, it is worth remembering that Europeans acted in the 2000s as an ally who helped put together the current political system in the country,” the expert stressed.
Starodubtsev noted that at the moment the EU declares for the constitutional reform in the country, which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced some time ago.
“That is to say, President Erdoğan is again, as in the 2000s, trying to capitalize on the support of the Europeans. Many things converge here: the demand for resetting relations with the West and internal resistance to reform, which will be easier to overcome with the EU,” the expert stressed.
He also believes that the EU is once again trying to show that it has a real influence on affairs in Turkey, and a “situational alliance” between the Turkish government and the EU could emerge.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
