European Solidarity in Action and the Future of Europe. The Future of Europe., Kaeding M.,Pollak J.,Schmidt P., Editör, Springer, London/Berlin , Berlin, ss.165-168, 2022
COVID-19 hit Turkey and the EU (European Union) at a time when bilateral
relations were already strained. Early in March, the two sides were
engaged in a bitter conflict regarding migration, among other issues.
The dominant perception in the country was that the EU was showing
little solidarity with Turkey in managing irregular migration. As the
COVID-19 crisis deepened, with both the humanitarian and the economic
repercussions taking their toll, bilateral conflicts briefly gave way to
acts of solidarity between the two sides. This was facilitated by
Turkish medical assistance to various EU, Western Balkan and Eastern
neighbourhood countries. Nonetheless, this period of solidarity and
goodwill was short lived, as the EU quickly took steps in consolidating
internal solidarity. Geopolitical conflicts in the Eastern Mediterranean
soon defined the relationship’s agenda. The crisis of Turkish-EU
relations seemed slowly to translate into a crisis of solidarity, almost
leading to a form of schadenfreude
in which Turkish authorities utilised the ongoing pandemic as evidence
of poor governance and an exclusionary approach by the European states.