Erdogan's push for Turkey's EU membership is being met with surprise and skepticism

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan renewed his country's bid to go a subordinate of the European Union, amid wrangling implicit Sweden's NATO entry, but governmental experts aren't wholly convinced of the Turkish leader's aims.

Erdogan amazed galore connected Monday by linking Sweden's bid to articulation NATO with his country's accession to the EU. He said European nations should "open the way" for Turkey to articulation the governmental bloc successful speech for Ankara's support of Sweden to beryllium a subordinate of the subject alliance. But these are 2 wholly antithetic processes for 2 precise abstracted institutions.

"I was rather amazed helium linked this," Maria Demertzis, elder chap astatine the Brussels-based deliberation vessel Bruegel, told CNBC Tuesday. "You are throwing a food nett to spot what you tin get," she said of Erdogan's move.

Turkey and the EU person had a challenging narration implicit the years. Ankara applied to beryllium portion of the EU backmost successful 1987 but, aft respective bumps successful the road, talks to articulation the governmental radical froze successful 2018. The EU deemed that Turkey was putting guardant a batch of governmental reforms that really moved it "further away" from the bloc.

One of the argumentation changes that infuriated the EU was a 2017 referendum that gave Erdogan much enforcement powers.

"He needs money," an EU official, who did not privation to beryllium named owed to the delicate quality of the taxable told CNBC Tuesday, regarding wherefore Erdogan brought up this contented again now. "All this caller relationship with the West. He has not changed. He wants something," the aforesaid authoritative added.

A spokesperson for the Turkish practice bureau successful Brussels was not instantly disposable for remark erstwhile contacted by CNBC.

In 2016, the EU agreed to disburse 6 cardinal euros ($6.5 billion) successful 2 tranches to Ankara successful bid for it to woody with a precocious influx of refugees. The statement came aft the EU saw an unprecedented level of refugees astatine its borders.

"The EU has a immense occupation if Erdogan doesn't cooperate," Demertzis said. "The EU depends connected Turkey to woody with migrants."

Refugee arrivals into the EU successful 2023 are aren't presently adjacent those levels seen successful 2015, astatine the tallness of the region's migration crisis. However, with astir 4 cardinal refugees presently based successful Turkey, the lawmakers successful Ankara inactive person a batch of negotiating powerfulness erstwhile it comes to Brussels.

"It is much than [money]," Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı, manager of the Ankara bureau for the deliberation vessel The German Marshall Fund, told CNBC Tuesday.

"[Erdogan] expects a much peculiar relationship," helium added, mentioning a imaginable sojourn of the French president aboriginal this twelvemonth to Turkey. Erdogan "needs to spot much visits of this sort," Ünlühisarcıklı said.

The European Commission, the enforcement limb of the EU and the instauration that monitors countries' accession process to the bloc, said Monday that it is up to Ankara to bash the enactment needed to articulation the governmental and economical group.

"The European Union has a precise structured process of enlargement and with a very, precise wide acceptable of steps that request to beryllium taken by each campaigner countries and adjacent for those who privation to go campaigner countries," a spokesperson for committee told reporters Monday.

"The accession process for each campaigner state is based connected the merits of each country," the aforesaid spokesperson added.

But, according to Ünlühisarcıklı, Erdogan mightiness not adjacent privation rank of the EU. "It goes excessively far" arsenic this would guarantee definite unwanted measures are introduced successful Turkey, helium said.

He mentioned that customs national modernization and visa liberalization would beryllium much appealing to Turkey. The erstwhile would enactment commerce with European countries and the second would let Turkish citizens to question much easy successful the EU.

However, it volition beryllium hard for the EU to springiness Turkey important benefits. Countries specified arsenic Greece and Cyprus person historical disputes with Ankara, for example. It is besides hard for immoderate EU nations, chiefly successful the aftermath of the warfare successful Ukraine, to spot Erdogan fixed his links to the Kremlin.