Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruffled some EU feathers today by saying Iran and its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are “friends” and that fears over Iran’s nuclear program are mere “gossip”. Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld told Radio Netherlands Worldwide these comments are “worrying” and “provocative”.

Mr Erdogan is visiting neighbouring Iran today to strengthen the already stable relationship between the two countries. Turkey has been steadily improving relationships with its Middle East neighbours lately, while the relations with the EU became more and more strained.
 

No interference
In an interview with British newspaper The Guardian on the eve of his trip to Tehran, Mr Erdogan said he would not raise any of the politically delicate issues, such as Iran’s post-election crackdown on protesters or its nuclear programme. Mr Erdogan said he doesn’t want to interfere with Iran’s internal affairs.
 

Worrying
Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld of the liberal D66 party, who is in Ankara this week with an EU delegation, says Mr Erdogan’s comments are worrying. “But there’s also a background to this”, she adds. “Turkey rightfully points out that if it cannot join the EU, it has other allies it can turn to. It may not be allies we like, but if we don’t want Turkey to be pushed into the arms of Mr Ahmadinejad, then we should make sure our relations with Turkey improve”.

But she admits Turkey’s accession talks are a very slow process. “Europe continues to be ambiguous about it, saying things like ‘Even if Turkey meets the criteria, we’re still not sure’ or ‘We’ll see when we get there’. We, the EU, must be clear that we negotiate on membership and nothing else”.
 

Listen to a Newsline interview with Ms In 't Veld here.

Disgusted with the EU
Turkey’s move towards the east may be a very clever step by Mr Erdogan to put the EU under pressure, says Dutch historian and islam specialist Alexander de Groot. “Mr Erdogan is telling us – Europe – that they might be friends with Iran if we don’t take care. Of course, every Turkish politican knows that they can gain more from the west than from the east. But the Turks are clearly disgusted with the EU, which is so awfully mismanaging its relationship with Turkey”.
 

Friends and neighbours
However, Mr De Groot doesn’t think that Turkey will really alienate itself from Europe. “But why not be better friends with your neighbours? We have a Dutch saying: ‘ Better a good neighbour than a distant friend’. Brussels at the moment is a very distant friend, by underestimating Turkey”.

“The country is only trying to sell itself at a better price, so to speak”, Mr De Groot adds. “The Turks now show Brussels that if the EU doesn’t take them seriously, Turkey will move its attention elsewhere”.

Listen to a Newsline interview with Mr De Groot here.