Turkey and the European Union: The Politics of Belonging by Lucia Najšlová

Author:Lucia Najšlová [Najšlová, Lucia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, European, Political Science, World, General
ISBN: 9781838602666
Google: soAPEAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 51952327
Publisher: I.B. Tauris
Published: 2021-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

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For Turkish Cypriots, the Summit Will Be Web-streamed

Let us now travel to a place which is somewhere between Turkey and the European Union, one which is part of neither yet is very important for their relationship. If we think territorially, the place would be called Northern Cyprus, whose residents live in “areas not under effective control of the Republic of Cyprus,” at least that is how the EU law sees them. If we use ethno-national marker, we will speak about Turkish Cypriots. Conceptually, the place we will travel to is democratic legitimacy and its timing. In 2006, the representatives of the EU member states voted on an aid package for the Turkish Cypriot community, declaring it should bring it “closer to the Union.”1 The Commission website that carried basic information about the aid was, until recently, illustrated with a photoshopped picture of a young man reaching for the stars on the EU flag. On a closer look we see that the stars are merely a window reflection—even if the man could extend his hand farther, he could never really touch them. This image, just like its location, is a telling snapshot of the Turkish Cypriots’ status in the European Union. Asymptotic might be the best word in English language that describes their collective condition—they are approaching, but not really able to get in. While they became citizens in 2004, until the resolution of the Cyprus dispute they are, officially, a community to be helped. Shortly after the aid regulation was discussed, a Turkish Cypriot politician asked a senior European Commission official whether Northern Cyprus is an EU member or a neighbor. He received an enigmatic answer: “It is up to you to decide.” The politician was entertained but unsurprised. He, just like many other Turkish Cypriots would strongly object to such an understanding of their situation.2

In conversations regarding Turkey’s European path, Cyprus is often referenced as an obstacle as well as an evidence of fragility of Europe’s beginnings and ends. This is for a good reason: when the EU members suspended the accession talks in 2006, they justified it by Turkey’s reluctance to comply with the EU law on this specific issue. Considering the wider developments in EU-Turkey relations, many participants of the relationship concluded that such a legalistic approach has somehow been a more convenient way of not letting Turkey too close. Moreover, discursive exercises on Turkey’s proximity to Europe often start with a geographic argument: only 3 percent of Turkey’s territory is in Europe, the rest is in Asia. Case closed. But Cyprus is further from EU-rope than most of Turkey. On maps of the continent, which include the Mediterranean Sea and parts of Africa and Asia, Cyprus appears at the upper right corner of the sea, almost at the very end of Turkey.

The Turkish Cypriots are EU citizens. However, for the EU law to apply in the north, a solution to the Cyprus problem has to be found. This situation suggests some parallels with the positionality of

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