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ANKARA: Is There any Strategy in Boycotting France?

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  • ANKARA: Is There any Strategy in Boycotting France?

    Is There any Strategy in Boycotting France?
    By IBRAHIM OZTURK

    Zaman, Turkey
    Oct 20 2006

    10.20.2006 Friday - ISTANBUL 22:36

    As a nation, our judgment is easily clouded. It's our Achilles heel
    to win the hard way but lose easily. We still haven't learned how
    to solve possible crises by adopting long-term strategies or using
    intelligence and know-how.

    A fine example of this phenomenon is the French controversy, perfectly
    timed just before the EU progress report on Turkey is released. It is
    as if the French wanted to seek help from Turkish sentiments that can
    lose control and direction easily. While France and other like-minded
    countries try to provoke us, so to speak, there are "customers" who
    are ready to buy this turmoil at home because their interests fit
    snugly into each other. I insist that the Algerian genocide should
    not be used to extract vengeance against France. This would burn
    bridges, whereas our duty is to build foundations and bridges for
    better dialogue and understanding.

    The tension we experienced because of Italy's stance on the PKK and
    the street protests it triggered are still fresh in our memory. But
    remember Italy's full support for us to obtain an exact date for EU
    full membership negotiations. International relations are determined
    neither by love nor by hatred, but by national interests guided by
    common sense. Can't you see that today Japan and America are like
    identical twins, despite the two atomic bombs America dropped on its
    present-day ally? While discussing today's matters, we should not ruin
    future relations. In fact, France does not prefer Armenia, a country
    of five million poor people, over Turkey with this action. As is well
    known, Europe has had this France problem for quite some time. It is
    the same country that opposed Britain's full EU membership in the past,
    and that also rejects the current EU constitution. This notorious
    country is now trying to use Turkey as a scapegoat for its problems
    with the EU. What Turkey has to do is try to avoid being part of the
    problem, with little patience and sound strategy.

    The other side of the equation is our homemade problems. Those who,
    until recently, had been tormenting people in order to impose
    European values on them are now pretending to be against the
    European Union. Since they are in search of a strategy to change
    course smoothly, they acted hastily in finding similarities between
    France's attitude and the present EU situation. Take a guess: What
    is the religion of our old aunt who yelled, "Religion is becoming
    lost?" As always, one of the most legal grounds is Ataturk. He said,
    "We have to reach the level of contemporary civilizations, not the
    European level." He meant rationalism, didn't he? But how can all
    this be combined with economic and political unity?

    Let's not digress; I do support boycotting French products. But mine is
    a well-founded embargo. If a foreign product has a Turkish equivalent
    with the same quality, and if it can withstand the price competition, I
    would prefer the homegrown products. A stance and preference spreading
    across all parts of life with national consciousness is essential, not
    feelings that are set ablaze with tensions and then burnt away. For
    instance, rescuing the present volatile campaign launched against
    France from its narrow bounds and turning it into a campaign using
    homegrown products would be the most viable long-term strategy. On
    the other hand, punishing French capital that is assisting successful
    investments in our country, contributing to production and employment
    by launching a boycott, will amount to sawing away at the branch
    we are sitting on. Instead, not buying imported French products and
    brands would be the best way to boost the boycott spirit.

    France may risk losing Turkey in an economic sense because Turkey is
    as good as a pill to cure an earthquake as far as French imports and
    exports are concerned. That would not move a leaf in France. However,
    France is our fifth-largest trading partner. More importantly,
    it seems as if similar things will occur with other countries,
    whether they're EU members or non-EU members. Almost 70 percent of
    Turkey's foreign trade is with European countries. We should reduce
    our dependence on Europe by expanding to new horizons, discovering
    new abilities and developing new long-term strategies. Furthermore,
    to increase our bargaining power we should be able to create other
    power sources. Otherwise any action taken by us would seem ridiculous.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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