'Turkish EU membership could have prevented war, including in Ukraine'

If Turkey was a member of the EU, it could have prevented some of the most destructive wars over the last 30 years, said one of the country’s top diplomats on Tuesday.

“If Turkey had been a member of the EU years ago, we could have prevented the war in Iraq, the civil war in Syria, and the current war in Ukraine,” Deputy Foreign Minister Faruk Kaymakci, in charge of EU affairs, told “The EU Meets The Balkans Forum” in Bulgaria's capital Sofia.

“If Turkey had been treated fairly in the accession process, I am sure Turkey today would already have been a strong member of the EU,” he continued, referring to its long-stalled accession bid.

“This would also lead to better NATO-EU cooperation. This would also have created strong deterrence in Europe against the brutal war against Ukraine,” said Kaymakci.

Speaking at a panel entitled “The Ukraine Lesson: EU Enlargement as Antidote to War,” Kaymakci said that the term “Western Balkan” is used to unfairly distance Turkey from its region.

“The Western Balkans mean nothing. There is no Eastern Balkans. There is no Southern or Northern Balkans. There is the Balkans. Turkey is also a Balkan country,” he explained.

The label “Western Balkans” is used to discriminate against Turkey, he said, blasting the “artificial bumps” put in Turkey’s path to the EU.

“This was also the case for North Macedonia and also Albania for many years. Why did we wait 25 years for North Macedonia to join NATO and start the accession negotiations? Unfortunately, the same goes for Turkey,” said Kaymakci.

- Turkey in the EU would help integrate Muslims

“The EU benefits stability, security, and peace. EU integration and the EU membership is the strongest antidote to war. If we had integrated some of the countries in the region, the Ukraine war would not have started,” he added.

“The other side has clearly seen divisions within NATO and the divisions within the EU but also the lack of better coordination between EU and NATO. Think this is the main reason for the war.”

Kaymakci added that Turkey's membership could integrate all Muslims in the union and prevent radicalization. On Turkey's integration to the union, he said: “If the EU is really a club of values, we have to have respect for all the beliefs, and with Turkish membership, Turkish outreach in the east and in the Muslim world will be much better.

Also, with Turkish integration, integration of Muslims already in the EU will be much better and we will be able to prevent any radicalization."

Turkey has been an EU candidate country since 1999. Negotiations for full membership started in October 2005, but have stalled in recent years due to political hurdles erected by some countries, according to Turkey.