The Pivotal Relationship. German Doubts and the Turkish-EU Accession Process

GTE Commentary (Istituto Affari Internazionali) No. 7, 14 March 2013, 3 pages

by Gerald Knaus and Christian Altfuldisch *

Germany and Turkey have seen economic, cultural, and social ties grow ever closer throughout the 20th century. Given Germany’s position within the EU, and in particular on all issues related with EU enlargement, as well as its large Turkish diaspora (the largest in the world), it is the central actor when it comes to Turkey-EU relations. During the past two decades a clear pattern has also emerged in which Turkey-EU relations are stuck whenever Germany was opposed to accession, and have moved forward quickly whenever German governments were supportive. The current German position leaves Turkey-EU relations in limbo.

* Gerald Knaus is the founding chairman of European Stability Initiative (ESI), Berlin, and an associate fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School. He is based in Istanbul and Paris and writes the Rumeli Observer blog. Christian Altfuldisch is an ESI analyst working on German-Turkish issues and the visa liberalisation process in the ESI office in Berlin.

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