Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is going to participate in the General Assembly of the European Union of Turkish Democrats, a powerful and strongly structured civil society organization in Germany. That sentence alone shows how deep our relations with the "European Turks" in EU countries are. On the eve of an important presidential election, the premier will no doubt be greeted by tens of thousands of Turks. There will also be other Turks who oppose him that will take part in other manifestations organized in Cologne.This is the first time that Turks in Germany and other EU countries will be able to cast their votes without having to travel to their own constituencies in Turkey. This long overdue right has been granted by the AK Party government, despite an arduous resistance on the part of Turkish bureaucracy and the Supreme Elections Court, which thought that organizing elections for Turks living abroad almost amounted to heresy, whereas all developed countries extend such facilities to their expatriates.Turks in Europe voting in Turkish elections and holding dual citizenship are not just "Turks living in Europe" as the President of UETD Süleyman Çelik has stated, they are "European Turks," or to coin a term used by some academics "Euro Turks," having very specific claims, problems and needs. This is to the credit of the premier and his government to allow a public space where this diaspora, mainly concentrated in Germany but also dispersed in large numbers in Austria, France, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands and Sweden, will be able to really participate in local and Turkish politics at once.Can these people play a mediating role in the relations between Turkey and the EU, which by the way are getting increasingly more dysfunctional? Can they also play a role of moderation for the Turkish public debate which is turning into a bitter altercation, punctuated with bloody incidents? Nobody knows, but there is already a certainty that part of the political class in Germany does not see Erdoğan's visit as a good opportunity to invigorate Turkey-EU relations.Already, Der Spiegel's infamous headline has started an anti-Erdoğan campaign, relayed by a number of politicians from diverse horizons. The European parliamentary elections taking place this weekend will probably see the rise of extreme-right parties overtly advocating the demise of the EU. Almost all of the extreme-right parties accuse Turkey in some way on their posters. The euro skepticism, or the "EU rejection" has found a new front on which to battle over the membership of Turkey.The Turkish premier's attempt to establish an organic link between Euro Turks, Turkey and the EU is, in that sense, perhaps the most innovative and healthy step taken during this parliamentary elections in Europe.Paul Krugman recently wrote a memorable editorial in The New York Times where he concludes his analysis on Europe by declaring: "Europe's elite needs to recall what the project is really about. It's terrifying to see so many Europeans rejecting democratic values, but at least part of the blame rests with officials who seem more interested in price stability and fiscal probity than in democracy. Modern Europe is built on a noble idea, but that idea needs more defenders."Nothing sounds more relevant today, and hopefully Erdoğan will be among the few politicians to remind Euro Turks of the importance of integration without assimilation, and cooperation in peace and fraternity.