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Al-Jazeera, Qatar
June 19 2005
Turkey apprehensive over EU crises
Turkey is uneasy over EU failures to ratify a constitution
As the European Union becomes embroiled in one integration crisis
after another, prospective member Turkey's EU accession path is
looking more troubled than ever.
The latest blow to European unity - the failure to agree on a 2006-2013
budget - came quick on the heels of founding members France and
Holland's rejection of the EU constitution.
The failure to agree on the constitution revealed deep anxieties in
both countries over future Turkish membership.
The constitution's author, former president of France Valery Giscard
d'Estang, went so far as to blame the Turkish membership issue for
the double rejection of the constitution.
At the same time, the German opposition Christian Democrat Union
(CDU) - who are on course to win September's early elections - have
said they are opposed to Turkey's membership.
Recent debate on enlargement has also caused anxiety in other
prospective EU member countries Romania and Bulgaria -which are set
to join in 2007 - and in Croatia.
A Christian club?
However, "Turkish membership has always been different from the other
candidates," Sedat Laciner, director of the Ankara-based think-tank,
the International Strategic Research Organisation, told Aljazeera.net.
"This is because the other European countries don't really consider
Turkey a European country, as Turkey is the only Muslim candidate."
Such a view has often led in the past to allegations from Ankara that
the EU is a Christian club. Now, some argue, Europe's basic prejudices
are coming out as the union faces a crisis.
But this is a view denied by European leaders, who decided last
December to give Turkey a 3 October 2005 date to begin accession
talks - more than 40 years after Turkey first applied to join.
"The EU has to stick to its existing commitments," European Commission
spokesperson Krisztina Nagy told Aljazeera.net on Friday.
"The talks will begin on October 3 provided Turkey fulfils the
necessary conditions."
Difficult conditions
However, these conditions are already proving difficult for Ankara
to meet.
Turkey undertook last December to extend the Ankara Agreement -
a deal between the country and the EU over customs and trade -
to include all the EU's latest members. Since May 2004, the new EU
countries have included the Republic of Cyprus, which Turkey does
not recognise and with which it has long had hostile relations.
Turkey has recognised Cyprus as part of a customs agreement
Many Turks resent the idea of having to include the Greek
Cypriot-dominated Republic in any official relationship -preferring
instead to champion the cause of the internationally unrecognised
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the isolated breakaway state in
the north of the island.
"The EU has to take some steps on Cyprus too," says Zeynep Ersahin,
research fellow at the Bosphorus University-TUSIAD Foreign Policy
Forum.
She points to the fact that Brussels promised to assist the Turkish
Cypriots, who voted last year in favour of the last United Nations
plan to reunify the island, while the Greek Cypriots voted against it.
"After the referendum, however, the EU did not take any action," she
says.
Revamped penal code
At the same time, Turkey also agreed as a precondition for accession
talks that it would enforce six pieces of legislation that would bring
the country more in line with EU norms. These included a revamped
penal code, which went through parliament in Ankara on 1 June.
"The EU is always emphasising that legislation adopted has to be
implemented," says Nagy. This, too, is a major sticking point, as it
requires potentially open-ended-on-the-ground evaluation.
Recent violence in southeast Turkey worries the EU
Recent heightened violence in Turkey's southeast between the army and
Kurdish separatists has also called this implementation into question.
Dutch ambassador to Ankara Sjoerd Gosses said earlier this week
that the EU stood for "the integration, not ... disintegration" of
its future members, backing calls from the European Commission for
Turkey to find a civil alternative to its military campaign against
the separatists.
The EU argues that the southeast is effectively run by the Turkish
military, rather than civilian authorities.
Armenian haunting
Then there is the long-running Armenian question. On 16 June, the
German parliament passed a resolution acknowledging the massacres
of Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire back in 1915 by Ottoman
troops and irregulars.
Stopping short of labelling these events 'genocide', the Germans called
on Turkey to acknowledge the massacres -something it has always been
wary of doing.
While the EU itself has made no such demand on Turkey, it has called
for a normalisation of Turkey's relations with neighbouring Armenia,
a process which inevitably involves the events of 1915.
Relations with Armenia have been a thorny issue for Turkey
"This was almost 100 years ago," says Laciner. "And the EU makes no
mention of the current Armenian occupation of Azeri territory."
In the conflict over the enclave of Nagorno Karabakh in the early
1990s, Armenian forces took a swathe of land from Turkish ally
Azerbaijan, linking the enclave to their border.
"People in Turkey see this as an example of Christian solidarity.
Just focusing on the events of 100 years ago shows the EU is not
sincere," Laciner told Aljazeera.net.
Cautious optimism
However, despite this range of disputes, some Turks remain optimistic
about their EU chances.
"I don't think Turkey's EU membership can be looked at from the
perspective of the recent referendums on the EU constitution," says
Ersahin, pointing to the recent Eurobarometre poll which found that
only 6% of French respondents voted against the constitution because
of Turkey.
In Holland, the figure was even lower, at only 3%. Most voted 'no'
because of concerns over unemployment and the local economy.
"The EU has to deal with its own economic and social problems first
and Turkey later," Ersahin says. "Accession is a process, which can
go up or down.
"Turkey has made great strides on many issues, and while there will
be many discussions on the shape of the EU in the future, the EU is
the most successful integration process of the century. It may take
10 to 15 years, but Turkey will become an EU member."
"Yes, there are many problems here in Turkey," acknowledges Laciner.
"But the EU has already said Turkey is a candidate and that these
problems can be solved. Up to now, Turkey has done what the EU wanted
in terms of reforms and the Europeans have acknowledged this."
The pressure, however, is likely to be growing not just on Turkey
to fulfil its commitments, but on the EU to carry through with its
obligations.
"The EU is a community of commitments," says Nagy, "and those that
have been taken have to be met."
June 19 2005
Turkey apprehensive over EU crises
Turkey is uneasy over EU failures to ratify a constitution
As the European Union becomes embroiled in one integration crisis
after another, prospective member Turkey's EU accession path is
looking more troubled than ever.
The latest blow to European unity - the failure to agree on a 2006-2013
budget - came quick on the heels of founding members France and
Holland's rejection of the EU constitution.
The failure to agree on the constitution revealed deep anxieties in
both countries over future Turkish membership.
The constitution's author, former president of France Valery Giscard
d'Estang, went so far as to blame the Turkish membership issue for
the double rejection of the constitution.
At the same time, the German opposition Christian Democrat Union
(CDU) - who are on course to win September's early elections - have
said they are opposed to Turkey's membership.
Recent debate on enlargement has also caused anxiety in other
prospective EU member countries Romania and Bulgaria -which are set
to join in 2007 - and in Croatia.
A Christian club?
However, "Turkish membership has always been different from the other
candidates," Sedat Laciner, director of the Ankara-based think-tank,
the International Strategic Research Organisation, told Aljazeera.net.
"This is because the other European countries don't really consider
Turkey a European country, as Turkey is the only Muslim candidate."
Such a view has often led in the past to allegations from Ankara that
the EU is a Christian club. Now, some argue, Europe's basic prejudices
are coming out as the union faces a crisis.
But this is a view denied by European leaders, who decided last
December to give Turkey a 3 October 2005 date to begin accession
talks - more than 40 years after Turkey first applied to join.
"The EU has to stick to its existing commitments," European Commission
spokesperson Krisztina Nagy told Aljazeera.net on Friday.
"The talks will begin on October 3 provided Turkey fulfils the
necessary conditions."
Difficult conditions
However, these conditions are already proving difficult for Ankara
to meet.
Turkey undertook last December to extend the Ankara Agreement -
a deal between the country and the EU over customs and trade -
to include all the EU's latest members. Since May 2004, the new EU
countries have included the Republic of Cyprus, which Turkey does
not recognise and with which it has long had hostile relations.
Turkey has recognised Cyprus as part of a customs agreement
Many Turks resent the idea of having to include the Greek
Cypriot-dominated Republic in any official relationship -preferring
instead to champion the cause of the internationally unrecognised
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the isolated breakaway state in
the north of the island.
"The EU has to take some steps on Cyprus too," says Zeynep Ersahin,
research fellow at the Bosphorus University-TUSIAD Foreign Policy
Forum.
She points to the fact that Brussels promised to assist the Turkish
Cypriots, who voted last year in favour of the last United Nations
plan to reunify the island, while the Greek Cypriots voted against it.
"After the referendum, however, the EU did not take any action," she
says.
Revamped penal code
At the same time, Turkey also agreed as a precondition for accession
talks that it would enforce six pieces of legislation that would bring
the country more in line with EU norms. These included a revamped
penal code, which went through parliament in Ankara on 1 June.
"The EU is always emphasising that legislation adopted has to be
implemented," says Nagy. This, too, is a major sticking point, as it
requires potentially open-ended-on-the-ground evaluation.
Recent violence in southeast Turkey worries the EU
Recent heightened violence in Turkey's southeast between the army and
Kurdish separatists has also called this implementation into question.
Dutch ambassador to Ankara Sjoerd Gosses said earlier this week
that the EU stood for "the integration, not ... disintegration" of
its future members, backing calls from the European Commission for
Turkey to find a civil alternative to its military campaign against
the separatists.
The EU argues that the southeast is effectively run by the Turkish
military, rather than civilian authorities.
Armenian haunting
Then there is the long-running Armenian question. On 16 June, the
German parliament passed a resolution acknowledging the massacres
of Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire back in 1915 by Ottoman
troops and irregulars.
Stopping short of labelling these events 'genocide', the Germans called
on Turkey to acknowledge the massacres -something it has always been
wary of doing.
While the EU itself has made no such demand on Turkey, it has called
for a normalisation of Turkey's relations with neighbouring Armenia,
a process which inevitably involves the events of 1915.
Relations with Armenia have been a thorny issue for Turkey
"This was almost 100 years ago," says Laciner. "And the EU makes no
mention of the current Armenian occupation of Azeri territory."
In the conflict over the enclave of Nagorno Karabakh in the early
1990s, Armenian forces took a swathe of land from Turkish ally
Azerbaijan, linking the enclave to their border.
"People in Turkey see this as an example of Christian solidarity.
Just focusing on the events of 100 years ago shows the EU is not
sincere," Laciner told Aljazeera.net.
Cautious optimism
However, despite this range of disputes, some Turks remain optimistic
about their EU chances.
"I don't think Turkey's EU membership can be looked at from the
perspective of the recent referendums on the EU constitution," says
Ersahin, pointing to the recent Eurobarometre poll which found that
only 6% of French respondents voted against the constitution because
of Turkey.
In Holland, the figure was even lower, at only 3%. Most voted 'no'
because of concerns over unemployment and the local economy.
"The EU has to deal with its own economic and social problems first
and Turkey later," Ersahin says. "Accession is a process, which can
go up or down.
"Turkey has made great strides on many issues, and while there will
be many discussions on the shape of the EU in the future, the EU is
the most successful integration process of the century. It may take
10 to 15 years, but Turkey will become an EU member."
"Yes, there are many problems here in Turkey," acknowledges Laciner.
"But the EU has already said Turkey is a candidate and that these
problems can be solved. Up to now, Turkey has done what the EU wanted
in terms of reforms and the Europeans have acknowledged this."
The pressure, however, is likely to be growing not just on Turkey
to fulfil its commitments, but on the EU to carry through with its
obligations.
"The EU is a community of commitments," says Nagy, "and those that
have been taken have to be met."