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Zaman, Turkey
April 24 2005
Becoming Europe's 'Sick Man', France Makes Turkey Scapegoat
By ALI IHSAN AYDIN, SELCUK GULTASLI
Published: Sunday 24, 2005
zaman.com
France, who gave birth to the idea of the European Union (EU), and
which is the homeland of Cartesian logic and the castle of
secularism, will hold a referendum to vote on the first constitution
in the history of the EU on May 29th.
Despite the fact that the idea of a constitution was carried to the
agenda by France at the Laeken Summit in 2001 and the team that
prepared the Constitution was led by a French official (former French
President Valery Giscard d'Estaing), French people are likely to
vote"no" in the referendum on May 29th.
While the French have been intensively discussing the constitution,
which they want to be in line with their traditions, one of the most
important matters of debate is Turkey's possible future EU
membership. Several French politicians from right to left on the
political spectrum link Turkey's membership with the constitution and
are calling on the French public to vote "no" on May 29th. It is an
exaggeration to say that French people will vote "no" on the
constitution only because of Turkey. As a matter of fact, French
people also complain about the EU's moving away from the concept of
enlargement and the understanding of a social state. One of the most
controversial issues, however, is Turkey. Some French citizens,
despite the fact that they would probably vote "yes" to Turkey's
membership in a referendum that will be held after 10 or 15 years if
Turkey completes EU negotiations with success, are asking "Why do we
wait for 15 years? Let's say "no" to Turkey as of now." Turning the
so-called Armenian "genocide" allegations into a principle in the
world for the first time, France has a public, which has the deepest
objection to Turkey's EU membership. Thýs attitude in France is
hypocritical. As a matter of fact, Turkey's "tough" secularism,
administrative system and linguistic borrowings when it encountered
with the modern West are all from France. Ýn short, France has
parallels with Turkey. Despite this fact, Turks are anxious this time
that their march towards Europe will be blocked in Paris. It is
rumored that French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said: "Forget
about negotiations on October 3rd." if the French would vote "no" on
the Constitution in the referendum on May 29th.
How has opposition against Turkey increased?
While describing France, the diplomats agree upon three
characteristics: high self-confidence, a great deal of contradicton
within itself and having no mean opinion of itself to the point of
arrogance from time to time. Some say, 'You can appreciate France;
however, you cannot like it'. There are some books published with
titles as such, 'Why do we like France, not the French?'
Why does a nation, which taught Europe logic, behave so illogically
when Turkey is at issue? Do the French deserve the 'sick man' title
of the Ottomans now? Didier Billion, who is a Turkish expert in IRIS
(Institute de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques), located in
Paris, thinks that France is now sick. According to Billion, when the
European Union (EU) had only six members, France was the leader, now
it is one of 25 members, so when it sees that its effect has
diminished, it gets peevish and feels isolated. Billion thinks that
the increasing opposition against Turkey's accesion to the EU in
France is related to domestic politics and unrelated with Turkey
itself.
"In France, there is a conflict between the right-wing extremists and
the central right. The right-wing extremists follow a path, which is
against the Islamic world; and has a voting potential between 15-20
percent. The leader of National Front Party (FN) Le Pen and the
leader of the Movement Party of France (MPF) Phillippe de Villiers
will try to achieve new successes in the future elections by making
use of opposition against Turkey; however, the actual problem is with
the Republican parties such as the Union for the Popular Movement
(UMP) and the Union for French Democracy (UDF). Saying, "UMP and UDF
follow this policy due to reasons for elections", Billion explains
that Turkey is the mirror of France's complaints about the EU and the
Islamic world, and even the scapegoat. Indicating that the Turkey
discussion in France is not a 'real' one, Billion thinks that the
politicians use Turkey for their political careers. Billion charges
Nicholas Sarkozy, who is the leader of UMP, with this behavior.
"There is not a real discussion in France, the discussion is among
the politicians. The discussions on Turkey used in political
competition are not healthy. For example, Sarkozy has many goals for
the future, but he is not a real statesman. He is an opportunistic
politican who wants to be a hero. Sarkozy's attitude about the Turkey
issue does not reflect the attitude of a real statesman." According
to Billion, the second issue is the migration problem that France
developed in line with its 'fantasies'. According to these
'fantasies' when Turkey becomes an EU member, the French people will
lose their jobs because Turkish people will occupy European markets
with their cheap labor force.
April 24 2005
Becoming Europe's 'Sick Man', France Makes Turkey Scapegoat
By ALI IHSAN AYDIN, SELCUK GULTASLI
Published: Sunday 24, 2005
zaman.com
France, who gave birth to the idea of the European Union (EU), and
which is the homeland of Cartesian logic and the castle of
secularism, will hold a referendum to vote on the first constitution
in the history of the EU on May 29th.
Despite the fact that the idea of a constitution was carried to the
agenda by France at the Laeken Summit in 2001 and the team that
prepared the Constitution was led by a French official (former French
President Valery Giscard d'Estaing), French people are likely to
vote"no" in the referendum on May 29th.
While the French have been intensively discussing the constitution,
which they want to be in line with their traditions, one of the most
important matters of debate is Turkey's possible future EU
membership. Several French politicians from right to left on the
political spectrum link Turkey's membership with the constitution and
are calling on the French public to vote "no" on May 29th. It is an
exaggeration to say that French people will vote "no" on the
constitution only because of Turkey. As a matter of fact, French
people also complain about the EU's moving away from the concept of
enlargement and the understanding of a social state. One of the most
controversial issues, however, is Turkey. Some French citizens,
despite the fact that they would probably vote "yes" to Turkey's
membership in a referendum that will be held after 10 or 15 years if
Turkey completes EU negotiations with success, are asking "Why do we
wait for 15 years? Let's say "no" to Turkey as of now." Turning the
so-called Armenian "genocide" allegations into a principle in the
world for the first time, France has a public, which has the deepest
objection to Turkey's EU membership. Thýs attitude in France is
hypocritical. As a matter of fact, Turkey's "tough" secularism,
administrative system and linguistic borrowings when it encountered
with the modern West are all from France. Ýn short, France has
parallels with Turkey. Despite this fact, Turks are anxious this time
that their march towards Europe will be blocked in Paris. It is
rumored that French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said: "Forget
about negotiations on October 3rd." if the French would vote "no" on
the Constitution in the referendum on May 29th.
How has opposition against Turkey increased?
While describing France, the diplomats agree upon three
characteristics: high self-confidence, a great deal of contradicton
within itself and having no mean opinion of itself to the point of
arrogance from time to time. Some say, 'You can appreciate France;
however, you cannot like it'. There are some books published with
titles as such, 'Why do we like France, not the French?'
Why does a nation, which taught Europe logic, behave so illogically
when Turkey is at issue? Do the French deserve the 'sick man' title
of the Ottomans now? Didier Billion, who is a Turkish expert in IRIS
(Institute de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques), located in
Paris, thinks that France is now sick. According to Billion, when the
European Union (EU) had only six members, France was the leader, now
it is one of 25 members, so when it sees that its effect has
diminished, it gets peevish and feels isolated. Billion thinks that
the increasing opposition against Turkey's accesion to the EU in
France is related to domestic politics and unrelated with Turkey
itself.
"In France, there is a conflict between the right-wing extremists and
the central right. The right-wing extremists follow a path, which is
against the Islamic world; and has a voting potential between 15-20
percent. The leader of National Front Party (FN) Le Pen and the
leader of the Movement Party of France (MPF) Phillippe de Villiers
will try to achieve new successes in the future elections by making
use of opposition against Turkey; however, the actual problem is with
the Republican parties such as the Union for the Popular Movement
(UMP) and the Union for French Democracy (UDF). Saying, "UMP and UDF
follow this policy due to reasons for elections", Billion explains
that Turkey is the mirror of France's complaints about the EU and the
Islamic world, and even the scapegoat. Indicating that the Turkey
discussion in France is not a 'real' one, Billion thinks that the
politicians use Turkey for their political careers. Billion charges
Nicholas Sarkozy, who is the leader of UMP, with this behavior.
"There is not a real discussion in France, the discussion is among
the politicians. The discussions on Turkey used in political
competition are not healthy. For example, Sarkozy has many goals for
the future, but he is not a real statesman. He is an opportunistic
politican who wants to be a hero. Sarkozy's attitude about the Turkey
issue does not reflect the attitude of a real statesman." According
to Billion, the second issue is the migration problem that France
developed in line with its 'fantasies'. According to these
'fantasies' when Turkey becomes an EU member, the French people will
lose their jobs because Turkish people will occupy European markets
with their cheap labor force.