On March 25-26, 2021 the EU Summit with the participation of the Heads of State and Government of the European Union (EU) will be held in the format of a video conference due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Eurasia Diary reports citing Turkish Anadolu news agency that the agenda of the summit will cover a wide range of discussions.
This will mainly focus on the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and the establishment of travel restrictions, as well as the study of vaccines in the Schengen zone of Europe. According to the report, the second part of the discussions will be on digital change, economic problems and difficulties in the eurozone. In other words, the strength of the euro, which is currently used by 19 countries, in international financial markets will be discussed. In addition, the following points of the agenda of the summit will be strengthening cooperation with NATO as well as measures to be taken against Russia and the Eastern Mediterranean conflict, which was on the agenda of previous summits.
Commenting on the issue, Irfan Kaya Ulgar, a professor at Istanbul's Kocaeli University and a political analyst, said the EU's steps to normalize relations with Turkey were nothing more than hypocritical intentions that served its own ambitions and took advantage of Turkey's status quo.
According to the political expert, the EU's intention prior to the summit to cooperate with Turkey by raising the issue of refugees is due to the EU's intention to gather a positive opinion for its own reputation.
"While this dialogue is seen by other political observers as a sign of the EU's willingness to normalize relations with Turkey, the EU will remain committed to its double standards. Some politicians say the European Union will not intervene despite Turkey has withdrown from the Istanbul Convention and even if the People's Democratic Party (HDP) is shut down by the Constitutional Court's decision on the anti-terrorism measures. However, the EU has always made statements against the government, interfering in Turkey's internal affairs on issues similar to those listed above. I think it will not be a surprise that such statements will be included in the final declaration of the summit. However, I must note that the EU will be willing to compromise at this meeting on the settlement of disputed nuances in order to normalize relations," said Irfan Kaya.
He also noted that in order to normalize relations between Turkey and the European Union, first of all, the issue of Turkey's full membership should be taken into account, and at least new discussions on this issue should be put forward.
Professor Irfan Kaya Ulger said that the EU could not take enough steps to normalize relations with Turkey.
"EU does not have enough capacity to normalize relations with Turkey," he said.
However, the decisive point here is the concept of "normalization" of relations between the parties. The problem is that the parties do not have the same understanding. First of all, I would like to talk about Turkey's position. Thus, despite the EU exerting a lot of pressure on Turkey in the international arena, the Turkish state continues to take positive steps towards EU membership. However, no decisive step has been taken by the EU as an authoritative side. On the contrary, despite the talks continue legally, there are no results in practice."