Brussels 15 years ago and 15 years later

It was the beginning of 2003; Abdullah Gül was Turkey's Prime Minister. Fadıl Akgündüz, also known as Jet Fadıl, was an independent deputy from the southeastern province of Siirt. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was not yet elected as a deputy because of previous political bans. But as the leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) he went on a tour around EU countries. The only item on the agenda was a solid demand of full membership. There was a lot of enthusiasm. 

Erdoğan and his team were saying: "reform, democratization and leaps;" they were pledging for the removal of all kinds of "tutelages, corruption and bans." 

European leaders fully trusted Erdoğan and the team who were believed to make Turkey more democratic. As a diplomacy reporter, who has closely monitored Turkey-EU relations between 1997 and 2002 and as someone who has covered that critical trip to the EU countries, I was, for the first time, witnessing such a positive atmosphere in Brussels. 

The U.S. administration was also working wholeheartedly for Turkey's EU accession. The presence of people like the current EU Minister Ömer Çelik around Erdoğan was increasing hopes.  

The AK Party government, in the year following the trip, took steps surprising Europe on matters such as meeting the Copenhagen criteria, the Maastricht economic criteria and the resolution of the Cyprus issue. 

Except for the constructive stance in Cyprus, none of these positive steps went unnoticed; and in the 2004 EU summit, Turkey's accession talks were decided to start. In 2005, talks officially started. 

Almost 15 years have passed and Erdoğan was once again in Brussels. This time he is both the president and the leader of the AK Party. He is much...