Why Turkey should stay in the EU Customs Union despite recent conflict with Germany

Political experts say it is not an option to expel Turkey from EU Customs Union, only because Germany wants it. They maintain many countries in the EU will act with common sense and not consider this option as a solution to recover deteriorated relations between Turkey and some EU countries.

Experts comment that considering all the immense support EU has given member countries (such as Greece) in economic trouble so far, it would be very fair to comment Turkey which has had a Customs Union agreement with the bloc since 1995, hasn’t been a burden on Europe. So if it came to making a decision about Turkey,  one would normally expect rational leaders of EU to consider this fact and not follow the attitude Germany has been showing against Turkey recently.

On the other hand, considering the difficult times EU has gone through for a long while now, a future for Europe without Turkey is almost out of question. Thus, in case of an unfavorable scenario aiming to drop Turkey, not only this country would suffer damage, but Europe would also be among losers for sure.

According to Turkish government officials, the bad part in this game is the way the conflict between Turkey and Germany (mainly) is used as a tool to improve domestic popularity just ahead of local elections in this country. Therefore it is quite a strong prospect that relations between these two countries will go back to normal – at least recover – after the local elections are held and election atmosphere comes to an end.

Just to refresh our memories Merkel had mentioned earlier that due to recent political tensions, the EU would not enter into talks with Ankara on modernizing the Customs Union. Merkel’s remarks had

After opposition parties urged her to use a harsher tone against Turkey, particularly due to the recent arrests in Turkey of around 10 German citizens, including a reporter and a human rights activist, for alleged support for terrorist groups.