Turkey, EU search for way forward

Katinka Barysch, deputy director at the Centre for European Reform, warns that the EU's leverage may be eroding. "Turks have a point when they ask why it should implement the difficult steps needed for opening while EU politicians say that Turkey should not become a full member of the club. Turkey's growing self-confidence as a regional power probably makes many Turks feel that they have an alternative to the EU." Meanwhile, Barysch added, "the EU looks less appealing now that it is bogged down in the eurozone debt crisis. Neither has the EU's slow and disunited response to the Arab Spring fuelled admiration in Turkey." Barysch agrees. "A re-elected and self-confident Erdogan could have the political courage to unilaterally open a few ports to ships coming from Cyprus. Such a step would reinvigorate the negotiations and put the ball firmly back into the EU's court," she said.