As the EU shows little interest in taking Turkey on board as a new member in the near future, Russia has emerged as a powerful new partner for Ankara, providing energy and trade deals and sending a growing number of holidaymakers to Turkey’s sunny coasts.
The ever closer relations between Ankara and Moscow is a sign of weakened ties between Turkey and the EU, Nihat Ali Ozcan, an analyst at the Economic Policy Research Foundation, or Tepav, an Ankara-based think tank, said yesterday.
“If things were better with the EU, Turkey would be part of the European approach. But because it is outside that approach, it plays more locally.”
Nowhere is that trend more visible than in energy policy. Turkey is eager to become a major player in international energy matters and wants to make full use of its unique geostrategic position as a country between East and West. “Turkey is pursuing its own interests, it is more independent” than it would be as an EU member, Mr Ozcan said.
