Turks are not invading Europe. They are securing its borders! German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Turkey. Getty images/ Guido Bergmann/Bundesregierung. All rights reserved. Following allegations by the British Vote Leave campaign that Turkish immigration to the UK poses a national security threat, the Brexit campaign headed up by Justice Secretary Michael Gove has come under attack for inciting racial prejudice. The idea underlying Vote Leave’s latest campaign poster, featuring a British passport folded to look like an open door, is that unless Britain leaves the EU, it will face a wave of unwanted and potentially dangerous Turkish immigrants.
In a televised interview, David Cameron responded to the claims by reassuring voters that even if the UK remains in Europe, it will ‘veto’ Turkish accession. Ironically, the PM did not counter the slanderous comments made against Turks, but instead sought to demonstrate that he too would prevent them from entering the country. Both campaigns in the British referendum are appealing to anti-Turkish sentiment.
But instead of taking a cynical approach to the latest iteration in the Brexit debate, let us examine in earnest some of the eccentricities of the framework in which the current arguments against Turkey are being made. By making three simple observations, I would suggest a blueprint for how we might best consider the entire Brexit debate as it enters its frantic final act. Not in trying to analyze anything from the point of view of politics, but how it articulates its stance towards the fantastic outcomes of staying or leaving.
