The article titled “What will sanctions against Erdoğan and Turkey bring?” mentions the recent discussions on freezing EU accession talks, cutting off EU funds, financial sanctions and calls against tourists going to Turkey.

Freytag said even discussing sanctions causes the Turkish side to react more provocatively and stressed that like all authocratic leaders, Erdoğan doesn’t think of his people’s welfare but himself and his power.

EU WILL BECOME THE SCAPEGOAT

Freytag pointed out that Erdoğan knows a large portion of Turkey’s population is hoping for EU membership and said: “That is why he is not ending the negotiations himself. If the EU does, on one hand it will probably be at a proportional harshness, but on the other it will have assumed the role of the scapegoat. The government in Ankara could then point to all Turks who want to see their country as an EU member that the EU wants to exclude Turkey.”

Freytag argued that because of this, it makes more sense for the EU to freeze or shelve the negotiations rather than ending them, and that it should be done by signalling that “Turkey could become an EU member if it shares the same values”.

Freytag stated that economic sanctions won’t affect the government members directly either, and pointed out that it would be more appropriate to freeze the AKP government’s ministers’ assets within the EU.

SANCTIONS THAT AFFECT THE PEOPLE WILL BE AKP’S EXCUSE FOR ECONOMIC HARDSHIP

Andreas Freytag said if the sanctions against Turkey directly affect the people, that will be abused by the AKP frequently. Freytag argued that possible sanctions would be used by the AKP as an excuse to explain the economic hardships the country is experiencing and as a way to explain harsher discourse by the AKP.

Freytag said the sanctions could cause third party governments who want to harm the EU to start supporting Turkey and warned that this could weaken the sanctions and strengthen the position of the Turkish government. Freytag argued that possible sanctions would also cause the EU to lose the anti-Erdoğan population of Turkey in favor of the AKP.

Freytag stressed that in general, except for the Apartheid regime, sanctions against similar governments throughout the world have backfired and expressed his wish to consider economic sanctions and the tourism boycott in particular within this framework.