Erdogan’s New Year’s Resolutions

As promised, all these “difficult” issues were addressed, over tea presumably. The Turkish foreign minister made clear the desire for resumption of arms supplies. Press reports had mooted this would depend on Yücel’s release, but Gabriel reportedly made clear there would be no simple quid pro quo, whereby arms would be exported in exchange for Yücel’s freedom. “I have in no way linked the two things,” he said. The two sides would have to solve their multiple problems together. In the next breath, he said that in the following days, the Berlin government was scheduled to examine in detail the delivery of equipment for protection against mines, for Turkish soldiers engaged in the fight against IS.

Considerable political pressure had been building up on the Berlin government to maintain a principled position. Vice-chairman of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) Alexander Lambsdorff had called for Çavusoglu “to bring the German hostages with him in his plane to Germany.” Green Party leader Cem Özdemir also demanded Yücel’s release saying, “Until that happens, there can be no normalization.”

Whatever words were exchanged in Gabriel’s winter garden, there must indeed have been some give and take, and presumably a good deal of giving on the part of the guest from Turkey. Following the tête-a-tête, clear signs emerged of relaxing tensions. Gabriel said one wanted to suggest to the Economics Ministry that it reconvene the bilateral economic commission after Germany had suspended its meetings in 2016. Gabriel noted that the strategic dialogue at the Foreign Ministry level could also be resumed, indicating this had been agreed upon by the government.

Lunch in Paris

Almost in parallel to the foreign ministers’ meeting on German soil, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Erdogan in Paris on January 5. It was the first such visit since the failed coup attempt in 2016, and similar pressure had been building in France for the president to adopt a hard line, especially regarding the repression of human rights activists and journalists. In his first New Year’s address as president, Macron announced to the press that he would demand the release of such prisoners, on the occasion of Erdogan’s scheduled visit to the capital.

For his part, the Turkish leader had made his bid for normalizing relations with France in an opinion piece in Le Figaro. The excellent relations between the two countries, he wrote, had started centuries ago, with the letter by King François I to Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in the early 16th century. But perhaps Erdogan was viewing France and its new president more as representatives of the European Union, and hoped that in his capacity as self-proclaimed EU reformer, Macron would be sympathetic to Turkey’s bid for membership. Erdogan wrote that it was due to France’s “rational policy” towards Turkey that “Europe remains a great hope” for him. At the airport in Istanbul before takeoff, he had told reporters, “France is a country whose views and positions on regional and global challenges coincide with ours to a great extent.”

The other issues on the agenda were regional conflicts (Palestine/Israel in the wake of Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem), Syria, and the fight against terrorism.

Following lunch at the Élysée Palace, the two presidents held a press conference, which was full of surprises. First, Erdogan had been welcomed in Paris by protesters, not only Amnesty International (which had taken out an ad in the daily Libération demanding action to defend human rights), but also the women’s rights group Femen, who had greeted him at the Élysée in topless attire, handing out menus featuring “minced human rights” and “boiled journalists.”

In the meeting with the reporters, Macron announced he had indeed addressed these issues with his guest and had protested arrests of teachers, students, journalists and so forth.

“Our democracies must be strong standing up to terrorism,” he stated. “But at the same time, our democracies must completely protect the rule of law.” He said he had presented a list of jailed journalists, drawn up by the organization, Reporters sans frontières. Erdogan’s response was to go on the offensive, accusing the press of nurturing terrorists. “Terror doesn’t form by itself. Terror and terrorists have gardeners.” And to explain, he added, “These gardeners are those people regarded as thinkers. They water terror with their columns in the newspapers.” He warned, “And one day you find, these people show up as terrorists in front of you.”

It did not end there. After a French journalist asked him about reports in 2015 in Çumhuriyet that Turkey had smuggled weapons to Islamist terrorists in Syria, he lashed out, “When you ask your questions, be careful on this point. And do not speak with the words of another. And I want you to know,” he concluded, “you do not have someone in front of you who would easily swallow this.” The reporter answered that he was speaking as a journalist.

Worse than the altercation with a reporter, during which he was visibly out of control, there was the cold shower Macron had prepared: Erdogan’s highest hopes of progress on the EU front were dashed, and announced to the press. “It is clear,” said Macron, “that recent developments and choices in Turkey do not permit any progress in the process of accession to the European Union.” He would be lying, he said, if he were to claim otherwise. What he proposed instead was “perhaps a form of cooperation, a sort of partnership,” which may have recalled Merkel’s offer years ago of a “privileged partnership” rather than full membership.

Erdogan was livid and, again, this was visible. “One cannot permanently implore,” he said, “and wait to be finally included.” He said his country had “unfortunately taken the first step in 1963. And it has now been 54 years that Turkey has been waiting in the ante-chamber of the EU.” Quite convincingly, he stated, “This is exhausting us. Maybe this will force us to take a decision.”

Conclusion: it was not the best way to begin a new year. Sometimes resolutions don’t work out quite as they are planned.

(The author can be reached at mirak.weissbach@googlemail.com.)