Tensions with Germany escalated after allegations that investigations were launched into German companies operating in Turkey on the grounds that they aided terrorist organizations that tried to assuage through diplomatic channels while Turkey was very clear that these claims were untrue and the requests of Germany to raise the pressure on Turkey were not accepted at the EU front.
Following the Turkey-EU High Level Political Dialogue Meeting in which Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and head negotiator EU Affairs Minister Ömer Çelik met with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn in Brussels, Mogherini objected to the calls to take a harder stand against Turkey in her statements.
Mogherini, who indicated that is important to keep dialogue channels open, emphasized that Turkey is still a candidate, and even though most of her colleagues in Brussels want to focus on red lines, she prefers to focus on the commonalities Turkey has with the EU. We are going through this process in Turkish-EU relations with many ups and downs in an era in which it is hard to keep up with the speed of development in information and communication technologies. It is such a century that the perception of wealth and the gap of technology level are rapidly closing between the countries that were accepted as the most developed and wealthiest until recently, and the leading developing economies, including Turkey.
It is possible to easily reach all kinds of information, news, and details at a time in which accessibility to reach smart devices has accelerated and strengthened for a big part of the world population. The change in the balances of the global political economy requires a rewinding of the diplomatic relations between the leading developed and developing countries. We are now in an "Era of Reason" where it does not lead to any results when G7 member countries like the U.S., Germany or France sit at the table with implicit threats. This era points to a new period where the bilateral relations will from now on be based on transparency, honesty, mutual trust, and the fact that the parties look out for each other's interests. While the conflict between Asia-Pacific and Atlantic will trigger the rise of the five biggest economies of the world in 2050 to come from the E7 group that Turkey is a part of, France will fall to 12th from its current 10th ranking, one below Turkey who will get 11th place in 2050.
Germany misses the age of reason
What is a better strategy for Germany, which will move down to ninth place in 2050 from its current fifth rank today -to strengthen its relations with Turkey - or who will go up to 11th place from 14th, or to take them to their breaking point? How can it be part of the Age of Reason when Germany's outdated diplomacy approach tries to keep the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and PKK on the table to negotiate while Turkey is dazzling German companies regarding the trillion dollar projects it will carry out as the logistic center and transportation energy corridor of China's billion-dollar investment Silk Road project. Which one is smarter for Germany who is rapidly losing region and influence in Eurasia and East Mediterranean: To have stronger relations with Turkey or to zero in the relations with the Turkish people and turn itself into an unwanted country while trying to use terror organizations as pawns?
IMF praise of Turkey
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), who has been publishing the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report only twice a year in spring and autumn following the 2008 global financial crisis, after realizing that the estimates for the IMF member countries' macro magnitudes such as growth and inflation do not hold but have high deviations, has been publishing revisions of the WEO reports in January and July for the last four-five years. The IMF has included its evaluations on Turkey under the "Emerging and Developing Europe" title in the last WEO report. The IMF, who assessed Turkey within the Eastern European countries group, stated that the growth in the group in question will accelerate parallel to the positive expectations for Turkey. According to the IMF, Turkey's exports have shown strong recovery in the last quarter of 2016 and first of 2017. It was also pointed out in the report that the external demand for Turkish goods may rise regarding the positive expectations toward the eurozone countries. Thus, IMF asserted that the acceleration in Turkey's exports will continue.
Moreover, the "Turkey: Fiscal Transparency Evaluation" IMF report read: "Turkey has made considerable strides in enhancing its fiscal transparency practices over the past decade and a half." The report highlighted that since 2000 when the IMF committee started its investigations into fiscal transparency in Turkey, significant progress was realized in the areas of extent of publicly open information, their timing and safety. It was emphasized in the report that Turkey has made notable progress on 36 criteria out of 48 as part of the IMF's new Fiscal Transparency Code by implementing important reforms. The report indicated that Turkey satisfies 10 of the 36 criteria in hand at a basic level, 13 criteria at a good level, and six criteria at an advanced level, and that it has made the most progress in the area of fiscal reporting.