Telegraph: “Europe breathes sigh of relief as Erdogan remains in power in Turkey”

The defeated presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu promised to turn Turkey back towards the West, if he ousted President Tayyip Erdogan, but there are few prime ministers or presidents who would be ecstatic at the prospect of welcoming Ankara back into the fold after two decades of Erdogan, British newspaper Telegraph said.

In an article titled “Europe breathes sigh of relief as Erdogan remains in power in Turkey”, signed by James Crisp, the newspaper’s Europe editor, Telegraph has captured the echoes of Erdogan's re-election in European capitals.

The article shed light on the underlying reasons behind these divergent responses, encompassing critical topics such as Russia-Turkey relations, refugee acceptance, and the potential implications for cultural dynamics in Europe.

“There’s no question that Mr Erdogan has made himself a nuisance in NATO, by blocking Sweden from joining the Alliance over Stockholm's supposed support for dissident Kurds. Patience with Mr Erdogan was already strained after Turkey invaded Syria, which hurt relations with Washington and European capitals,” Telegraph said.

Telegraph pointed out that Kemal Kilicdaroglu had promised to realign Turkey with the West if he succeeded in ousting President Erdogan. However, the newspaper notes that very few prime ministers or presidents in Europe would be enthusiastic about welcoming Ankara back into the Western fold after two decades of Erdogan's rule.

“But his plans to revive Turkey’s long-stalled accession process to the EU, would have been greeted with barely disguised horror in Fortress Europe.
Even simple visa liberalization has proved elusive in a bloc where even mainstream politicians wade into the culture war over the “islamisation” of Europe’s “Judeo-Christian” culture.” Telegraph said.

According to Telegraph, Erdogan himself has abandoned the idea of Turkey joining the EU, having faced numerous setbacks in revitalizing an application first made in 1987. Strikingly, this suits both Brussels and its member states, as the European Union pays lip service to democratic values and human rights, yet had no qualms about providing substantial funds to Erdogan's government to host Syrian refugees during the 2015 migrant crisis. Additionally, Turkey agreed to take back migrants attempting illegal crossings of the Mediterranean in exchange for increased financial assistance.

“Mr Erdogan may be impossible to like. But has made himself very useful,” Telegraph said.