Competing plans by Erdogan Turkey's EU entry

Kemal Kilicdaroglu has pledged to revive EU membership talks if he defeats President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in next month's election. His campaign rhetoric makes heavy use of pro-Western rhetoric, while Erdogan's government has criticized Brussels. Kilicdaroglu said he would "immediately move towards resurrecting Türkiye's moribund EU membership talks" if elected. Turkey applied for EU membership in 1987 and was recognized as a candidate in 1999. EU officials have since condemned Erdogan over alleged human rights abuses, and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament warned in a 2017 report that constitutional reforms strengthening his powers could run afoul of EU law and threaten Ankara's membership bid.

Erdogan dismissed the warning. The most important details in this text are that Turkey places little stock in what the EU says, and that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been more obsequious towards the EU and its demands. Turkey is the only member of NATO that has not condemned Russia over its military operation in Ukraine, and Ankara and Moscow have strengthened their trade links since the conflict began. Erdogan will need to win over an electorate grappling with high inflation and a weakening currency, as well as the economic fallout caused by last month’s earthquakes near Gaziantep. Polls currently put Erdogan and Kiliçdaroglu in a statistical dead heat.