Time for EU-Turkey 'Urgency' - by Hugh Pope
An abrupt and unusual word buried in a European Union declaration on Dec. 8 showed the mounting risks of a breakdown in Turkey's EU membership talks. Ankara's need to solve its problems with Cyprus, foreign ministers warned, has become "urgent." Thanks also to Turkey's failure to meet EU reform benchmarks since the negotiations started in 2005, a showdown looks inevitable over the next year.Failure to reform and deep political polarization have led to a sense of lost direction in Turkey. Nationalism and human-rights violations are on the rise again. As the adoption of EU norms look more distant, ethnic tensions between Turks and Kurds have occasionally spilled over into neighborhood violence and attacks on shops even in major western cities. The great progress made in a golden era of reform from 2000 to 2004 is at risk.
The EU accession process was the principal anchor of Turkey's economic miracle this decade. This new prestige has led some policy makers in Ankara to declare that the country could be a self-standing regional hub that doesn't need the EU. But such thinking stood on shaky ground even before the global financial crisis exposed Turkey's vulnerability. The Balkan countries to Turkey's west are mostly in the EU already or moving toward that goal, and even countries such as Ukraine and Georgia are more interested in EU ac
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