It has been 22 long years since an Austrian federal chancellor has paid a state visit to Türkiye. Nevertheless, on Oct. 9, everything changed.

To emphasize the relevance of this trip, best called a historic state visit, highly significant members of the Austrian business community accompanied Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer, together with high-ranking government ministers and representatives, respectively, to the Turkish capital of Ankara.

The visit was very well received both here in Türkiye and back in Vienna; and well beyond the scope of bilateral relations.

Prominent Austrian news website nachrichten.at quoted Nehammer as saying he has the "greatest interest" with regards to cooperating with Türkiye, while stressing both countries are partners in the fight against illegal migration. But one should not peg this important set of face-to-face meetings as being only about the EU-Türkiye migrant deal. As a matter of fact, the list of topics discussed highlighted the immense international standing of both nations and included discussing bilateral, regional and global politics.

Another news website, bnn.network published a piece titled "Erdoğan and Nehammer: A Dialogue for Strengthened Ties and Regional Stability."

The article refers to the trip as a "significant diplomatic event" with both leaders having converged "on a broad spectrum of issues, ranging from bilateral relations and migration to their collective stand against terrorism."

As a matter of fact, local media has far too many misperceptions when it comes to better understanding, and respecting, modern Türkiye.

Nehammer and his entourage arrived with open ears and eyes and without predetermined cliches. His Turkish hosts, in turn, not only rolled out the red carpet, but had prepared the full picture with regards to where Turkish politics, and in particular the economy, stand at the moment. It was a very well-prepared trip and judging by statements made by both sides, an extremely successful one.

Unfortunately, one issue remains unsolved: Türkiye’s full membership in the European Union. We shall return to this point toward the end of this brief analysis.

Austrian enterprises growing in Türkiye

During the visit, Austria’s Economics Minister Martin Kocher underscored that approximately 420,000 Austrian tourists visited Türkiye in 2022 and that 1,500 enterprises are in business with Türkiye. He also said that 250 of those enterprises are already operating their own subsidiaries in the country, impressive figures, to say the least, considering the relative size of Austria.

We should listen to Gerhard Lackner, the Austrian trade commissioner for Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Georgia, based in Istanbul, to better understand the relevance of closer business relations with a perspective to then embark on closer political and societal relations.

Lackner was even more outspoken than some of the media outlets quoted above, although the positive reporting was already noteworthy in itself. The official, who represents Advantage Austria, the trade promotion organization of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, hailed what he called "a great day for Austria and Türkiye," adding that "we had a big push for our bilateral relations."

Lackner also said that the highlight was a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in which cooperation opportunities such as joint projects and mutual investments to improvements in areas like business visas and work permits were discussed.

On the topic of work permits and business visas, it continues to stop one step short of the EU extending visa liberalization for Turkish bona fide visitors in general.

Visa liberalization is often regarded as the missing milestone to completing EU accession, hence the reluctance in some European capitals. Once that process is dealt with, keeping Türkiye outside the block will become all but impossible.

Prospects of Türkiye’s EU membership

Despite the very positive vibes emanating both from the guests as well as the hosts during and after the visit, no one familiar with the history of bilateral relations between both countries would have anticipated a final green light from the side of Vienna vis-a-vis Ankara’s European Union membership aspirations. And that was certainly not the underlying reason for reaching out to Nehammer and his delegation. As expected, the chancellor clearly stated during the news conference that according to him, becoming an EU member state would not be a fitting vision for Türkiye’s future.

But a week is a long time in politics, a sentiment famously attributed to the former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, although often re-told by politicians all around the world to allow for a potential change of mind with regard to important decisions.

In this context, Nehammer, his ministers, the traveling business community and many accompanying members of the Austrian media had a unique opportunity to witness developments in modern Türkiye firsthand instead of relying on secondhand and often fake, or at least misleading, information unfortunately often circulated back in Austria.

To please their electorate, the EU issue had to be raised, but only as a footnote. The Austrian delegation clearly intended to build bridges and not burn them any further. Nehammer did this in an extremely careful manner in order not to offend his Turkish hosts.

The good news is that in the wake of last week’s visit, Ankara and Vienna opened a brand-new chapter in their bilateral relations. This, in turn, might eventually convince government circles in Austria, and ultimately the public via the media, that a socially inclusive, forward-looking, economically viable and internationally respected EU might just be the winning ticket to stem the tide of ill-fated and toxic right-wing populism.

Key factors in all of this include much closer links between both economies, much more foreign direct investments, more strategic partnerships between companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), and joint research and development undertakings. Both the Austrian and Turkish economies, respectively, greatly rely on family businesses (SME businesses), hence the huge potential for cooperation.

If a week is a long time in politics, let us imagine how long six or 12 months are. Closer bilateral relations between Austria and Türkiye, and between many other EU member states, talking face to face of course, could become the ultimate game changer.

Supporting Türkiye’s EU membership bid would not harm Austria’s reputation among fellow EU friends. On the contrary, it would catapult Austria back into the driving seat of pro-active diplomacy, a fitting image for it considering Austria holds one of the United Nations seats.

Why not?