Murat Karayalçın Explores Turkey-EU Relations

On Friday, December 14, Murat Karayalçın, a former foreign minister of foreign affairs and former mayor of Ankara, visited campus to speak to the GE 441 FEASS Interdisciplinary Senior Project Course on the European Union. The lecture was entitled "Turkey-EU Relations through the Eyes of a Former Minister of Foreign Affairs."

Mr. Karayalçın started his remarks by describing how he initially perceived Turkey-EU relations at the time he started his career at the Ministry of Development (formerly the State Planning Organization). Quoting İsmet İnönü, he described the EU as a very prominent product of human intelligence. Mr. Karayalçın also expressed his belief that the organization was established to provide for a common standard of living in the European geography. The EU, he said, referring to the words of former President Süleyman Demirel, is moreover the greatest peace project in history.

Mr. Karayalçın also discussed the roots of the eurozone crisis and noted that Ali Babacan, state minister for economic affairs, has pointed out that the lack of a common monetary policy has served to deepen the crisis. The EU, Mr. Karayalçın remarked, is deprived of strong political leaders. He put forward the argument that the solution for the crisis in the EU is either a multi-tier EU, led by countries like Germany and the UK, with a second tier of nations like Greece and Ireland; or a strong federation and full political integration.

In the last part of his presentation, Mr. Karayalçın discussed the current outlook for Turkey-EU relations from the perspective of the public. He noted that Turkish citizens have lost their enthusiasm and lowered their expectations due to the fact that some EU countries are attempting to head off Turkey's accession process. Finally, he placed special emphasis on the importance of three areas -- the customs union, the matter of visa exemptions and the North Cyprus issue -- if a further step is to be taken toward Turkey's EU membership.

The seminar concluded with Mr. Karayalçın responding to the numerous questions put to him by those in attendance.