FT column by Philip Stephens.
The conventional narrative says Turkey has traded in western democracy for Islamism.
Stephens sees it a bit more subtly:
In any event, the message I took from policymakers and business leaders at a recent conference in Istanbul convened by Chatham House was far more subtle than the present discourse in the west. Far from turning its back on Europe, the government hopes that the country’s rising regional influence will strengthen its claim for admission.
It is not often these days that you hear anyone praise the EU. Turkish politicians are the exception. The Union, one of Mr Erdogan’s ministers told the conference, had been a “greatest peace project in the history of mankind”. Securing Turkey’s membership remained a “national and a strategic” objective.
In sum, no breach with West, but a rational attempt to boost Turkey's negotiating hand.