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TURKEY: IN FRENCH ELECTION, ANKARA ROOTING FOR SARKOZY RIVAL
by Yigal Schleifer
EurasiaNet.org
April 24 2012
NY
As the French presidential election heads into a run-off, it's probably
not surprising that Ankara is quietly but emphatically rooting for
Socialist candidate Francois Hollande to defeat the incumbent Nicolas
Sarkozy. Under Sarkozy, Turkish-French relations have been extremely
strained, with the French President expressing his strong opposition to
Turkey's European Union membership bid and also helping introduce a few
months ago an ultimately unsuccessful bill that would have criminalized
the denial of the Armenian genocide. On the foreign policy, front,
meanwhile, Paris and Ankara have also frequently clashed in recent
years, in particular with the two vying for influence in the Middle
East. For example, after the end of the NATO operation last year in
Libya, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sarkozy were
in a race to see which one of them could make it to Tripoli first and
become the first major foreign leader to visit the newly liberated
country. Sarkozy ended up winning the contest, arriving in the Libyan
capitol only a day before Erdogan.
So what would a Socialist victory in France mean for Turkey? The
National takes a look:
Cengiz Aktar, head of EU studies at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University,
said he expected a better era to begin under Mr Hollande. "A socialist
administration would lift the veto on the five chapters" of Turkey's
EU membership talks now blocked by the Sarkozy government in Brussels,
Mr Aktar said in an interview yesterday. "That will greatly ease the
tense relations."
Mr Aktar noted that French socialists were not adamantly opposed to
Turkey's EU membership application and said Mr Hollande was likely
to unblock the five EU chapters, even before the summer after an
election victory in May. France says it has blocked the five chapters
- economic and monetary policy, agricultural policy, regional policy,
financial and budgetary provisions as well as a chapter on institutions
- because talks about them would give Turkey a perspective of full
EU membership. Mr Sarkozy says he is willing to negotiate closer
ties between Ankara and the EU, under a concept called "privileged
partnership", but does not accept talks that would mean Turkey,
the only Muslim EU candidate, can expect to become a full EU member.
Ioannis N Grigoriadis, a political scientist from Greece who teaches
at Bilkent University in Ankara, also said a government change in
France was likely to have positive effects.
"The Sarkozy presidency has invested a lot in the opposition to
Turkey's membership bid," Mr Grigoriadis said. He said Mr Sarkozy had
made it clear that he was opposed to Turkey's accession and would bring
Turkey's EU accession to a referendum, even if Ankara fulfilled all
the necessary criteria. It's a position France had not taken towards
any other EU candidate.
"I don't think Hollande would repeat all that," Mr Grigoriadis said,
adding he expected an improvement in relations under Mr Hollande,
even though it would be difficult to restore the level of trust the
two countries enjoyed under Jacques Chirac, Mr Sarkozy's predecessor,
in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Meanwhile, it appears that diplomats in Ankara are already getting
ready for a Hollande victory, preparing for the opening of several
chapters of the EU negotiation process that are currently being blocked
by France. It would appear that they are betting on a winning horse:
according to most polls, the Socialist contender is likely to win
the May 6 runoff with a comfortable margin.
by Yigal Schleifer
EurasiaNet.org
April 24 2012
NY
As the French presidential election heads into a run-off, it's probably
not surprising that Ankara is quietly but emphatically rooting for
Socialist candidate Francois Hollande to defeat the incumbent Nicolas
Sarkozy. Under Sarkozy, Turkish-French relations have been extremely
strained, with the French President expressing his strong opposition to
Turkey's European Union membership bid and also helping introduce a few
months ago an ultimately unsuccessful bill that would have criminalized
the denial of the Armenian genocide. On the foreign policy, front,
meanwhile, Paris and Ankara have also frequently clashed in recent
years, in particular with the two vying for influence in the Middle
East. For example, after the end of the NATO operation last year in
Libya, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sarkozy were
in a race to see which one of them could make it to Tripoli first and
become the first major foreign leader to visit the newly liberated
country. Sarkozy ended up winning the contest, arriving in the Libyan
capitol only a day before Erdogan.
So what would a Socialist victory in France mean for Turkey? The
National takes a look:
Cengiz Aktar, head of EU studies at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University,
said he expected a better era to begin under Mr Hollande. "A socialist
administration would lift the veto on the five chapters" of Turkey's
EU membership talks now blocked by the Sarkozy government in Brussels,
Mr Aktar said in an interview yesterday. "That will greatly ease the
tense relations."
Mr Aktar noted that French socialists were not adamantly opposed to
Turkey's EU membership application and said Mr Hollande was likely
to unblock the five EU chapters, even before the summer after an
election victory in May. France says it has blocked the five chapters
- economic and monetary policy, agricultural policy, regional policy,
financial and budgetary provisions as well as a chapter on institutions
- because talks about them would give Turkey a perspective of full
EU membership. Mr Sarkozy says he is willing to negotiate closer
ties between Ankara and the EU, under a concept called "privileged
partnership", but does not accept talks that would mean Turkey,
the only Muslim EU candidate, can expect to become a full EU member.
Ioannis N Grigoriadis, a political scientist from Greece who teaches
at Bilkent University in Ankara, also said a government change in
France was likely to have positive effects.
"The Sarkozy presidency has invested a lot in the opposition to
Turkey's membership bid," Mr Grigoriadis said. He said Mr Sarkozy had
made it clear that he was opposed to Turkey's accession and would bring
Turkey's EU accession to a referendum, even if Ankara fulfilled all
the necessary criteria. It's a position France had not taken towards
any other EU candidate.
"I don't think Hollande would repeat all that," Mr Grigoriadis said,
adding he expected an improvement in relations under Mr Hollande,
even though it would be difficult to restore the level of trust the
two countries enjoyed under Jacques Chirac, Mr Sarkozy's predecessor,
in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Meanwhile, it appears that diplomats in Ankara are already getting
ready for a Hollande victory, preparing for the opening of several
chapters of the EU negotiation process that are currently being blocked
by France. It would appear that they are betting on a winning horse:
according to most polls, the Socialist contender is likely to win
the May 6 runoff with a comfortable margin.