“Turkey’s EU Ambition: Can we Avoid Derailment?” with Dr. Frances G. Burwell, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Program on Transatlantic Relations

Audience 2:    What about the militaries involvement.

Interviewee:    The EU’s strict line is that there is no military involvement in politics.

Audience 2:    Maybe on a broader perspective on this is…

Interviewee:    Well, the EU has been, you know, one of the forces that helped re-write the Turkish constitution about the National Security Council.  I think that actually was one of the best things of this whole process.

Interviewer:    Uh-hmm.

Interviewee:    I think the EU is looking for continued evolution.  And there was a time when, I forget the exact instance, it might have been during the possibility when the party could have been bent.  There were some rumors and I remembered [IB], the European commissioner for enlargement speaking up very unusually for him and very bluntly about the need for the military to not participate in a political solution.Interviewer:    Fran, is the – you have a question?  Yes, sir go ahead.

Audience 3:    Michael [IB] from the department of agriculture working on this problem.  I was very surprised to hear that you didn’t mention agriculture, which seemed to be a major, major stumbling block with the common agricultural policy of course Turkeys and the customs union, Turkey being a very large agricultural producer with great potential.

Interviewee:    Right.