Are there political reasons behind EU’s travel warning for Turkey?

The EU has decided to continue its travel warning for Turkey despite the successful fight carried out by this country against covid 19 pandemic. This has been sort of shock for Turkey’s administration because same officials believe this has to do with double standards and this country did not deserve this treatment by EU as well as Germany.

The press in EU also shared their view about this issue as follows, supporting Turkey in this regard.

An article in the German newspaper Die Welt stated that Germany was trying to play a game of interest against Turkey under the guise of coronavirus. The article said warning for Turkey did not make sense considering the fact that Turkey’s case numbers were not worse than many other countries pointed out.

The article also stated that the German TÜV and Turkish certification programs ensured that hotel facilities were safe, and that Germany even allowed holidays in other countries in worse condition, for example in the UK, considered as the “coronavirus center in Europe”. The article also said, “Medical reality is already playing a secondary role in coronavirus foreign policy,”

Another German media outlet, the RND said Turkey was right in its criticism that Berlin and Brussels had imposed double standards on the travel warning and went on to say, “It would be dishonest and politically unwise to act in this way” adding such move could face charges that the travel warning was used to take Ankara hostage if it was not well-reasoned and Pplitical problems with Turkey could not be solved over holidaymakers.”

The US-based broadcaster Al-Monitor said the EU had opened its borders to visitors from 15 countries since July 1, but that Turkey, which performed well above the EU average in the Kovid-19 fight, was among the countries with continued restrictions on travel to and from the EU.

Pointing to the success of Turkey’s Kovid-19 strategy, the article said, “Indeed, Turkey’s coronavirus statistics are much better compared to EU member Sweden, for example. The Turkish population is about 9 times that of Sweden, but the number of cases per 1 million in Turkey is 2,370, compared to 6,777 in Sweden. The death rate in Turkey is 60.8 per 1 million but in Sweden it is 528.1. Even compared to Germany, which has roughly the same population as Turkey and has been praised for its successful Kovid-19 strategy, Turkey seems as successful as Germany. The total number of confirmed cases in Germany is around 200 thousand, while in Turkey it is around 195 thousand.”

The article stressed that the reason for the EU’s continued travel restrictions for Turkey could be explained for political reasons rather than public health concerns.