It is often said in the Middle East that, if you are going to tell a lie, it had better be a big lie since then more people will believe you. In its handling of the issue of Turkey’s application to join the EU the Leave campaign has certainly shown that it has learned to adopt and to apply that cynical piece of advice. The claims that Turkey could be a member of the EU by 2020 and that Britain has no control over the process are simply untrue.
The reality is entirely different. Over recent months President Erdogan’s government has set back any hope of making progress in Turkey’s accession negotiations by a series of policy moves which are incompatible with the founding values of the EU, respect for which is an essential condition for eventual membership. By interfering with freedom of the press, by persecuting critics of his government and by moving to suspend the immunity of opposition members of parliament he has jeopardised the whole process. That is a view widely shared right across Europe.
In any case, because of the requirement for unanimity in closing each of the 35 “chapters” in Turkey’s accession negotiations, only one of which has so far been closed, Britain does not need to leave the EU in order to take back control over this process. It already has control over it.
What does all this add up to? It adds up to the fact that the issue of Turkey’s accession to the EU is irrelevant to the decision we are going to take on 23 June. There is no way in which, if we decide to remain in the EU, we can be compelled against our will to close a single one of those chapters. In the meanwhile it might be sensible to stop insulting a country which is an important NATO ally, whose cooperation in the fight against the so-called Islamic State is essential, and which is already helping to relieve the pressure on the whole of Europe from illegal immigration.