Why now?

The European Parliament will publish its 2026 Turkey Report tomorrow.

While the country's agenda is burning hot, and especially with the National Team having lost to Australia in its very first match of the World Cup after a 24-year hiatus, the people of my country will likely not care much.

After all, we all know very well by now that the government no longer has any concern regarding the European Union, one way or another.

That issue was used quite effectively to convince the lukewarm-brained liberals, second-republicans, Kurdish nationalists, and fake leftists in the country to support the political Islamist government; it became a multiplier for the legitimacy that Tayyip Erdoğan craved so much in those days; afterwards, it was cast aside.

However, there is nothing to be taken lightly about this latest report. We learned this from Cansu Çamlıbel's interview with Green Group MEP and Shadow Rapporteur Vladimir Prebilic.

Prebilic stated that they are preparing to request that Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek be included in the European Union's sanctions list, and recounted that AKP members asked what they could do to remove Gürlek's name from the text.

Then he told them:

“You are asking the wrong question; what will remove this name from there is what you do in Turkey.”

Naturally, all hell broke loose. Although, for us, the report has no binding force. But it is extremely important in terms of revealing the perspective in Brussels.

Let us put on our reading glasses and examine the situation accordingly.

Because what needs to be discussed here is not Akın Gürlek; nor is it a minister.

The issue is the change in Europe's view of Turkey. Or rather, the interest calculations it has been forced to change.

Let's rewind the tape a bit.

Democratic standards in Turkey did not start to decline today; nor did the elimination of press freedom, judicial independence, or the pressure on the opposition...

All of these are not issues of the last few months, but of the last twenty years.

The system in Turkey did not change overnight. It was a long process that progressed step by step since 2002, becoming more evident every year. The Presidential Government System was a result; the real transformation had begun much earlier.

So, what did the European Union do while all this was happening?

Most of the time, it remained silent.

Sometimes it criticized, but it never went far enough to disrupt relations. Because Europe's priority was not democracy.

It was its interests.

Especially Germany's.

Let's remember the Angela Merkel era.

Democracy was regressing in Turkey, press freedom indices were falling, and debates on judicial independence were growing.

But during the same period, the most powerful leader in Europe was sitting at the table with Tayyip Erdoğan, making migration deals, and conducting negotiations worth billions of euros.

Because Europe was not at all concerned about Turkey moving away from democracy and becoming authoritarian.

Its only fear was that refugees would reach Berlin, Paris, and Brussels. In those days, Tayyip Erdoğan was far more valuable to Europe than democracy, human rights, or the rule of law.

He was the border guard. Today, however, the same Europe is in a rush to lecture us on law.

Supposedly, it stands up in the name of human rights and shows anger in the name of democracy.

Excuse me, but we are fed up with all of this; it is not just us, but the whole world that has learned how hypocritical they are. If they were truly sincere, they would have reacted before the problems emerged, while the signs were still visible. They would have adopted an approach, a policy, and a strategy based not on pragmatism, but on those universal values they constantly harp on about.

But they did not.

Let's be clear; those who are supposedly targeting Akın Gürlek today are the ones who watched from the sidelines for twenty years as Turkey stepped away from democracy.

Those who say they are uncomfortable with what is happening in Turkey today are the ones who were in a partnership of interests with Ankara while this order was being established.

Therefore, the issue is not Akın Gürlek. The issue is not the legal order in Turkey either. The issue is Europe's changing interests.

Yesterday, they needed Tayyip Erdoğan.

Today, they want a different kind of Turkey.

Yesterday, they strengthened Ankara's hand to manage the migration crisis.

Today, as regional balances shift, they are trying to exert pressure on Ankara in their own way.

In short, what they really wanted was a stability model that would protect their own interests.

So, why are they changing their strategy now?

Because the world is at a crossroads. The war in Ukraine has overturned Europe's security architecture. Energy corridors are being reshaped. A new era has begun in Syria. New alliances are being formed in the Middle East. Power balances in the Eastern Mediterranean are being recalculated.

The European Union now sees Turkey not just as a refugee depot, but as one of the countries at the center of the new geopolitical equation.

Therefore, the relationship established with Ankara today is not the relationship established with the Ankara of 2016.

Yesterday's priority was refugees.

Today's priority is security architecture.

Yesterday's issue was the protection of borders.

Today's issue is the new regional order.

This is why Europe's language is hardening. But looking for the source of this harshness in a sensitivity for democracy would be a total mistake.

It is worth repeating. The same Europe chose to remain silent while many critical thresholds regarding Turkey's democratization were crossed.

Therefore, reading the moves against Akın Gürlek solely on a legal axis would mean missing the big picture. We are facing a Europe that is repositioning itself according to changing global balances, much more than a human rights debate.

Let us ask who in our country is aware of this, and put a period to our article.