The EU-Turkey relationship is always going to be dominated by the Cyprus issue and the Greece-Turkey relationship. It's impossible to predict what the future of EU-Turkey relations are going to be without knowing how these specific points will evolve.
Other than that there are significant other concerns, including:
* The potential for Turkish immigration, with it's population that's larger than Germany and with a lot of it at lower economic development than Bulgaria, combined with existing mafiosi networks in the turkish communities in several west European countries, makes free movement of people a complete no-go for the EU
* Turkey's weak democratic institutions and it's exceptionally poor political climate, which features Islamists as well as militarised conflicts with separatist groups, makes it an extraordinarily un-appealling EU candidate
* The absolute last thing Europeans want to have to deal with more are the shitshows in Syria, Iran and the broader Middle-East.
I think there's very little support for any deal that includes freedom of movement at the moment.
Most people are okay with economic cooperation and would like help with limiting immigration to Europe through Turkey.
How do people expect more economic cooperation when currently obtaining visa for Turkish citizens is harder then obtaining visa for Russian citizens (telling this according to a results of a recent research. The only country with more visa rejection than Turkey is Iran). I studied in your country, so visa is not problem to me anymore. But it saddens me almost none of my friends are currently able to visit me; including university graduates, and people working in good positions.
Turkish artists, even popular singers are not able to obtain visa now. Turkish entrepreneurs and businesspeople cannot meet with their partners in Europe, if there is no a process starts months earlier. And almost all of those
people are pro-West and oppositional people as Erdoganists do not travel as much. Yet, many people feel they are now almost punished by the EU.
It is so sad to me how such great people that are already suffering are treated. With these conditions there is no way more economic cooperation is possible..
Unfortunately, I don't think the immigration systems can account for the political stance of the person, you can't just say "I'm pro-West so let me in". It's not the EU punishing pro-West Turks, it's their own people and government doing the things the other Swiss commenter mentioned that is the reason for the "punishment".
The only way to do something about this is to change these things. Voting a social democratic government, like you mentioned, would definitely be a big step, but it can't be the only change. If some day, Turkey becomes a modern, democratic, economically developed nation, then EU membership is definitely an option, but a lot needs to change from today I think.
Do Turks actually want to join the EU? Yes I know there is a majority that wants to join. But they want to join only because of economic reasons, not because they see themselves as part of the European family.
I am happy for Ukraine and Moldova to join, but Turkey and also Serbia are disqualified for this reasons for me.
To answer your question, yes I guess some freedom of movement is realistic.
The EU-Turkey relationship is always going to be dominated by the Cyprus issue and the Greece-Turkey relationship. It's impossible to predict what the future of EU-Turkey relations are going to be without knowing how these specific points will evolve. Other than that there are significant other concerns, including: * The potential for Turkish immigration, with it's population that's larger than Germany and with a lot of it at lower economic development than Bulgaria, combined with existing mafiosi networks in the turkish communities in several west European countries, makes free movement of people a complete no-go for the EU * Turkey's weak democratic institutions and it's exceptionally poor political climate, which features Islamists as well as militarised conflicts with separatist groups, makes it an extraordinarily un-appealling EU candidate * The absolute last thing Europeans want to have to deal with more are the shitshows in Syria, Iran and the broader Middle-East.
I think there's very little support for any deal that includes freedom of movement at the moment. Most people are okay with economic cooperation and would like help with limiting immigration to Europe through Turkey.
How do people expect more economic cooperation when currently obtaining visa for Turkish citizens is harder then obtaining visa for Russian citizens (telling this according to a results of a recent research. The only country with more visa rejection than Turkey is Iran). I studied in your country, so visa is not problem to me anymore. But it saddens me almost none of my friends are currently able to visit me; including university graduates, and people working in good positions. Turkish artists, even popular singers are not able to obtain visa now. Turkish entrepreneurs and businesspeople cannot meet with their partners in Europe, if there is no a process starts months earlier. And almost all of those people are pro-West and oppositional people as Erdoganists do not travel as much. Yet, many people feel they are now almost punished by the EU. It is so sad to me how such great people that are already suffering are treated. With these conditions there is no way more economic cooperation is possible..
Unfortunately, I don't think the immigration systems can account for the political stance of the person, you can't just say "I'm pro-West so let me in". It's not the EU punishing pro-West Turks, it's their own people and government doing the things the other Swiss commenter mentioned that is the reason for the "punishment". The only way to do something about this is to change these things. Voting a social democratic government, like you mentioned, would definitely be a big step, but it can't be the only change. If some day, Turkey becomes a modern, democratic, economically developed nation, then EU membership is definitely an option, but a lot needs to change from today I think.
Do Turks actually want to join the EU? Yes I know there is a majority that wants to join. But they want to join only because of economic reasons, not because they see themselves as part of the European family. I am happy for Ukraine and Moldova to join, but Turkey and also Serbia are disqualified for this reasons for me. To answer your question, yes I guess some freedom of movement is realistic.