Turkish PM accused of about-face on EU
Recently there has been a notable increase in foreign press reports condemning Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his choices and portraying him as straying from his country’s Europe-bound course. At the end of last month, The Economist magazine, which is known for its pro-Turkey stance, also criticized the strategy adopted by the Turkish premier. Last week, Newsweek magazine, a US publication which is considered generally pro-Turkey, highlighted the Islamist-leaning Erdogan’s «tendencies toward regression.» Erdogan’s critics are accusing him of morphing from an opponent of the asphyxiating surveillance of the military to a representative of the reactionary guard. Although he appeared to be a champion of tolerance and human rights, he is now emerging as a persecutor of minority Kurds and a proponent of an outmoded form of Turkish nationalism, thus endangering the course of EU-oriented reforms. Erdogan’s about-face is widely attributed to his country’s major problems on the domestic front. He is in open conflict with the military regime, which is accusing him of trying to impose a fundamentalist agenda on Turkish politics. However, he also risks losing many voters who supported his Justice and Development (AKP) party to far-right groups who oppose US policy in the region and reject the European Union. Meanwhile, concern about Turkey’s future is palpable in European capitals and Washington.
