Angela Merkel and Recep Tayyip Erdogan Schicke/Getty Images

Realism for Europe and Turkey

A clash of values will almost certainly continue to define relations between Europe and Turkey. But, as has been true for a century, much more – both sides’ fundamental security interests – will be in the balance as well.

BERLIN – Relations between Europe and Turkey have long been characterized by a deep contradiction. Whereas security cooperation (especially during the Cold War) and economic ties have been strong, the vital foundations of democracy – human rights, press freedom, minority rights, and an independent judiciary to enforce the rule of law – have remained weak in Turkey. History, too, has divided the two sides, as the dispute over recognition of the Armenian genocide during World War I attests.

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