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TURKEY INSULTINGLY REJECTED BY THE EU AGAIN
by M. S. Ahmed
Media Monitors Network, CA
Oct 4 2005
"It is no exaggeration to conclude that it is Ankara's readiness
to dance to the tune played by Europe that is encouraging the EU to
treat it so shabbily and keep it at the EU's gates for so many years.
Turkey is a large and strategically important country, and the EU
countries are interested in maintaining economic ties with it,
as German chancellor Schmits (for one) confirms. Paradoxically,
one way Ankara can raise the EU's interest in having it as a member
would be to forge and strengthen ties with other Muslim countries and
work publicly and seriously for a Muslim union, while suspending its
efforts to join the European Union."
Turkey has been a trusted and valued member of NATO for a long
time, as it has been an associate member of European economic
organisations. Turkey first applied to join what was then the
EEC in 1959 and signed an association agreement with it in 1963,
which strongly implied that it would later become a member. In 1995
it joined the Custom Union, and the EU officially accepted it as
a candidate for membership four years later. And, finally, the EU
agreed last December that Ankara could start entry talks on October
3. But some EU member-states insisted that the talks could start only
if Turkey recognised Cyprus, which became a member of the EU in May,
while others insisted that the talks would not be about Turkey's full
membership but about "privileged links". Nor surprisingly, Ankara,
which had fulfilled the previous conditions set for full membership,
refused to comply with the new ones because they were felt to be
humiliating, and the schedule of talks seemed to be doomed.
However, EU member-states began to modify their position slightly,
agreeing that the talks would be about membership after all, and by
September 22 the negotiations between the two parties appeared to be
on schedule. But very little has in fact changed, as the conditions
which Ankara found humiliating do not attach to the opening of the
talks but to Turkey's full membership of the EU. Turkey must, for
instance, recognise Cyprus if it is to become a member, and those
member-states that object to its admission will continue to do so.
Thus nothing has really changed and it is again insulting to
expect Ankara to be happy that the talks will begin on October 3,
as scheduled. In any case, the membership talks might conceivably
last ten years or more, as EU officials openly admit.
It is ridiculous that a country that has been a loyal ally of the
West should be treated in this manner, while former enemies that were
recently members of the Soviet Union have been readily admitted.
After all, Ankara has fulfilled all the conditions demanded of it
by the EU: it has abolished the death penalty, accepted Kurdish as
a language for teaching in schools, scrapped state security courts,
revised the penal code and tightened civilian control over the country,
for instance This disdainful attitude of the Europeans explains why
support for EU membership is decreasing in Turkey itself. Recent
polls show that backing has fallen from about 93 percent to about 63
percent of Turkey's population.
The animosity in the EU towards Turkey and dislike of its aspirations
for membership are evident not only among the majority of its people
but also among their political and religious leaders, who publicly
argue that a Muslim country cannot belong to a Christian society.
This, for instance, explains why Turkey's application for membership
became a prominent issue in Germany's recent elections. Mrs Angela
Merkel, whose party won a simple majority of votes, rejected Turkish
accession, conceding only "privileged partnership". Even liberal German
political leaders backed her, somewhat unexpectedly. On September 15,
for instance, she won support from Helmut Schmidt, the former Social
Democrat chancellor, who said that he completely supported her position
in an interview with the liberal weekly Die [Das? ] Zeit. Saying
that it was nonsense to suggest that Turkey could ever join the EU,
he added: "The Turks belong to a completely different cultural domain
from us. Economic cooperation, yes, customs union, yes, but no freedom
of movement for population excesses [sic.] that arise in Turkey."
But it is not only the European on the street and European politicians
who object to Turkey's membership of the EU. Even Benedict XVI, the
new pope, has asked whether admitting a Muslim country to the EU is
compatible with "European values". This has made him a controversial
figure in Turkey. But even so, president Ahmed Necdet Sezer has
invited him to visit Turkey next year, the foreign ministry said on
September 15. If the pope in fact visits Turkey, he will be the third
pontiff to do so: a clear demonstration that the overwhelmingly Muslim
(though officially secular) country is not as hostile to Europeans
on religious grounds as Europeans are to Muslims.
In fact successive Turkish regimes have been keen to show how European
their country's values are and how well it qualifies to be a member
of the EU. This explains their readiness fulfill the conditions to
be met before accession talks can be held or even considered. Ankara
is required to show that it is modern, democratic, regretful of its
treatment of minorities such as the Armenians, and also prepared to
compensate them now. How keen the current regime is to comply is shown
by prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reaction to the cancellation
of a conference in Istanbul on the massacre of Armenians in 1915.
A court in Istanbul ordered the cancellation of the conference on
September 22 on the application of the Turkish Lawyers' Union - "a
hardline nationalist organisation", as one EU newspaper has described
it. But although the office of the governor of Istanbul announced
that permission had not been given for the conference to go ahead,
Erdogan reacted strongly to the court's decision to cancel it. "This
decision has nothing to do with democracy and modernity," he said;
"I condemn this decision." In fact it is his unwarranted public
interference in judicial affairs, and his anxiety to comply with the
dictates of the EU that have nothing to do with democracy. Likewise nor
has the refusal of EU member-states to treat their Turkish minorities
anything to do with democracy. In fact they are treated so badly,
despite most of them being citizens of the countries they are in or
have legal residence of, that it is strange that Erdogan and other
Turkish leaders are not exercised about this blatant departure from
democratic practice.
It is no exaggeration to conclude that it is Ankara's readiness to
dance to the tune played by Europe that is encouraging the EU to
treat it so shabbily and keep it at the EU's gates for so many years.
Turkey is a large and strategically important country, and the EU
countries are interested in maintaining economic ties with it,
as German chancellor Schmits (for one) confirms. Paradoxically,
one way Ankara can raise the EU's interest in having it as a member
would be to forge and strengthen ties with other Muslim countries and
work publicly and seriously for a Muslim union, while suspending its
efforts to join the European Union.
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/20745
by M. S. Ahmed
Media Monitors Network, CA
Oct 4 2005
"It is no exaggeration to conclude that it is Ankara's readiness
to dance to the tune played by Europe that is encouraging the EU to
treat it so shabbily and keep it at the EU's gates for so many years.
Turkey is a large and strategically important country, and the EU
countries are interested in maintaining economic ties with it,
as German chancellor Schmits (for one) confirms. Paradoxically,
one way Ankara can raise the EU's interest in having it as a member
would be to forge and strengthen ties with other Muslim countries and
work publicly and seriously for a Muslim union, while suspending its
efforts to join the European Union."
Turkey has been a trusted and valued member of NATO for a long
time, as it has been an associate member of European economic
organisations. Turkey first applied to join what was then the
EEC in 1959 and signed an association agreement with it in 1963,
which strongly implied that it would later become a member. In 1995
it joined the Custom Union, and the EU officially accepted it as
a candidate for membership four years later. And, finally, the EU
agreed last December that Ankara could start entry talks on October
3. But some EU member-states insisted that the talks could start only
if Turkey recognised Cyprus, which became a member of the EU in May,
while others insisted that the talks would not be about Turkey's full
membership but about "privileged links". Nor surprisingly, Ankara,
which had fulfilled the previous conditions set for full membership,
refused to comply with the new ones because they were felt to be
humiliating, and the schedule of talks seemed to be doomed.
However, EU member-states began to modify their position slightly,
agreeing that the talks would be about membership after all, and by
September 22 the negotiations between the two parties appeared to be
on schedule. But very little has in fact changed, as the conditions
which Ankara found humiliating do not attach to the opening of the
talks but to Turkey's full membership of the EU. Turkey must, for
instance, recognise Cyprus if it is to become a member, and those
member-states that object to its admission will continue to do so.
Thus nothing has really changed and it is again insulting to
expect Ankara to be happy that the talks will begin on October 3,
as scheduled. In any case, the membership talks might conceivably
last ten years or more, as EU officials openly admit.
It is ridiculous that a country that has been a loyal ally of the
West should be treated in this manner, while former enemies that were
recently members of the Soviet Union have been readily admitted.
After all, Ankara has fulfilled all the conditions demanded of it
by the EU: it has abolished the death penalty, accepted Kurdish as
a language for teaching in schools, scrapped state security courts,
revised the penal code and tightened civilian control over the country,
for instance This disdainful attitude of the Europeans explains why
support for EU membership is decreasing in Turkey itself. Recent
polls show that backing has fallen from about 93 percent to about 63
percent of Turkey's population.
The animosity in the EU towards Turkey and dislike of its aspirations
for membership are evident not only among the majority of its people
but also among their political and religious leaders, who publicly
argue that a Muslim country cannot belong to a Christian society.
This, for instance, explains why Turkey's application for membership
became a prominent issue in Germany's recent elections. Mrs Angela
Merkel, whose party won a simple majority of votes, rejected Turkish
accession, conceding only "privileged partnership". Even liberal German
political leaders backed her, somewhat unexpectedly. On September 15,
for instance, she won support from Helmut Schmidt, the former Social
Democrat chancellor, who said that he completely supported her position
in an interview with the liberal weekly Die [Das? ] Zeit. Saying
that it was nonsense to suggest that Turkey could ever join the EU,
he added: "The Turks belong to a completely different cultural domain
from us. Economic cooperation, yes, customs union, yes, but no freedom
of movement for population excesses [sic.] that arise in Turkey."
But it is not only the European on the street and European politicians
who object to Turkey's membership of the EU. Even Benedict XVI, the
new pope, has asked whether admitting a Muslim country to the EU is
compatible with "European values". This has made him a controversial
figure in Turkey. But even so, president Ahmed Necdet Sezer has
invited him to visit Turkey next year, the foreign ministry said on
September 15. If the pope in fact visits Turkey, he will be the third
pontiff to do so: a clear demonstration that the overwhelmingly Muslim
(though officially secular) country is not as hostile to Europeans
on religious grounds as Europeans are to Muslims.
In fact successive Turkish regimes have been keen to show how European
their country's values are and how well it qualifies to be a member
of the EU. This explains their readiness fulfill the conditions to
be met before accession talks can be held or even considered. Ankara
is required to show that it is modern, democratic, regretful of its
treatment of minorities such as the Armenians, and also prepared to
compensate them now. How keen the current regime is to comply is shown
by prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reaction to the cancellation
of a conference in Istanbul on the massacre of Armenians in 1915.
A court in Istanbul ordered the cancellation of the conference on
September 22 on the application of the Turkish Lawyers' Union - "a
hardline nationalist organisation", as one EU newspaper has described
it. But although the office of the governor of Istanbul announced
that permission had not been given for the conference to go ahead,
Erdogan reacted strongly to the court's decision to cancel it. "This
decision has nothing to do with democracy and modernity," he said;
"I condemn this decision." In fact it is his unwarranted public
interference in judicial affairs, and his anxiety to comply with the
dictates of the EU that have nothing to do with democracy. Likewise nor
has the refusal of EU member-states to treat their Turkish minorities
anything to do with democracy. In fact they are treated so badly,
despite most of them being citizens of the countries they are in or
have legal residence of, that it is strange that Erdogan and other
Turkish leaders are not exercised about this blatant departure from
democratic practice.
It is no exaggeration to conclude that it is Ankara's readiness to
dance to the tune played by Europe that is encouraging the EU to
treat it so shabbily and keep it at the EU's gates for so many years.
Turkey is a large and strategically important country, and the EU
countries are interested in maintaining economic ties with it,
as German chancellor Schmits (for one) confirms. Paradoxically,
one way Ankara can raise the EU's interest in having it as a member
would be to forge and strengthen ties with other Muslim countries and
work publicly and seriously for a Muslim union, while suspending its
efforts to join the European Union.
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/20745