EPP boss Weber and ex-VW boss Diess argue on “Markus Lanz” about Turkey’s role in Europe. Which is better: approach or exclusion?
Hamburg – Manfred Weber is the party and parliamentary group leader of the European People’s Party (EPP). “The largest party in Europe,” as he emphasizes. Nevertheless, he is probably only known to those people who deal more intensively with politics. This could have been different from 2019, after all, Weber was the EPP’s top candidate at the time. Ursula von der Leyen, a politician who was not on any ballot paper, was elected head of the EU Commission. “A serious defeat for European democracy,” says Weber. The heads of state and government led by French President Emmanuel Macron did not want Weber, but instead wanted von der Leyen.
Weber on “Markus Lanz”: Election campaign in Turkey revolved around identity and religion
But this should only remain a side note. Rather, Weber, as head of the EPP, was supposed to comment on the outcome of the presidential elections in Turkey in the ZDF talk show “Markus Lanz”, in which incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received 52 percent of the votes in the runoff and narrowly defeated his challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. “First of all, given the high turnout, it is a democratic result that the Turks gave. We have to respect that,” says Weber. The reason for Erdoğan’s victory were the issues of “identity” and “religion”, which were dominant in the election campaign.
Markus Lanz – These guests will be part of the discussion on May 30th:
- Manfred Weber (CSU) – Head of the EPP
- Carolina Drueten – Turkey correspondent of World
- Felix Lee – journalist
- Herbert Diess – former VW boss
Dealing with the West was also a big issue, especially “with the USA, Sweden and NATO”. Erdoğan managed to keep his regular voters. “In this respect, he tore the country apart,” analyzes Weber. The journalist Carolina Drüten agrees. As Turkey correspondent, she had the impression that the camp around Kılıçdaroğlu was sure of victory right to the end. The disappointment about the defeat is correspondingly large. And that could become a problem. There was already talk of it in advance, and Drüten now confirms it: “It was a fateful choice. It wasn’t just about politics, it was about the core of the people.”
Expert Drüten is surprised at “Markus Lanz” about Erdoğan’s re-election despite the crises
Drueten is surprised that despite the poor management of the earthquake disaster or the economic problems in Turkey, Erdoğan has hardly lost approval. Erdoğan even persists in his policy. Drüten left Markus Lanz’s logical question of what will happen in Turkey almost unanswered: “We’ll see how things go from now on. In any case, it won’t be easy.”
Lanz then asked whether we might have had the wrong image of Turkey. Former VW boss Herbert Diess reacted by demanding that Turkey should be taken more seriously because “Turkey is a European country”. That really got the circulation of the other guests going. Diess calls for Turkey to be brought closer to Europe again. “That would reward Erdoğan’s policies,” warns Drueten. Weber, who diplomatically describes Turkey as a “very important partner”, tries to build bridges. He hopes that a new chapter can now be opened with Erdoğan. Nevertheless, Weber considers Turkey’s EU membership, which has been discussed for many years, to be unlikely. “I don’t think it should be,” he says.
Felix Lee on “Markus Lanz”: The train has left in the case of Turkey
The journalist Felix Lee has long since ticked off the subject: “In the case of Turkey, the train has left.” However, he does not regret that either: “We have to say goodbye to the fact that everyone is just hoping to somehow get into the EU.” But he doesn’t see the mistake in Turkey, rather it is “a defeat of western, liberal democracy”. Lanz unpacks an interesting statistic to make it clear what role Europe will play in the future. “Europe will soon make up just six percent of the world’s population.”
When asked whether Erdoğan and Turkey still want to join the EU, Drueten does not give a clear answer. However, she describes that the Turkish president has a remarkable network: “He gets along with the Russians, the Chinese, the Europeans, the Americans.” A categorical rejection of EU accession would only harden the fronts and bring no results advantage with itself. Diess cannot resist formulating an appeal: “As Europe, we will only be convincing if we are the better society.” To do this, one must be well positioned technologically and economically.
Markus Lanz – The conclusion of the show:
An eternal theme. Does Turkey belong in the European Union? On the occasion of Erdoğan’s re-election, a few facets were examined again without there being any significant new insights. That is why things will probably continue in the years to come as they have in the past. If there is no event of historic proportions, the impasse will continue. And regularly keep the guests busy on talk shows. (Christoph Heuser)
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