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Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 11 2012
Sarkozy and his four losses against Turkey
ABDÃ`LHAMÄ°T BÄ°LÄ°CÄ°
[email protected]
There is no question that, for a politician like Nicolas Sarkozy, who
despite coming from nothing has always managed to look on from above
with a smirk on his face, losing the election caused great pain. But
what no doubt magnified this pain even more for Sarkozy was losing to
the Socialist Party's second choice, Francois Hollande, whom Sarkozy
never really took seriously.
Sarkozy's defeat bodes different things for his political career,
French politics in general and a Europe engulfed in crisis. Even
though it is not yet clear what Hollande's victory will bring, the
fact that Sarkozy -- who engaged in anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim
politics -- lost is meaningful for European values. Now, of course, in
order for Hollande to really leave an imprint on France, his party
must be successful in the upcoming June parliamentary elections.
News of Sarkozy's defeat -- making him the 11th European leader to
lose his seat due to the ongoing financial crisis -- put economic
circles on immediate alert. That's because this defeat means a serious
blow to the France-Germany axis of belt-tightening policies
implemented recently in Europe in regard to the financial crisis. The
new government promises to lower the age of retirement from 62 to 60,
plans to increase the employment rate through the hiring of more
government clerks and plots to tax 75 percent those earning more than
1 million euros annually. At the same time news of Hollande's victory
came in, news of the shattering defeat of center-right and left
parties in Greece that had been implementing strict belt-tightening
policies there also came in; add to this electoral losses for Angela
Merkel and her partners in Germany's Schleswig-Holstein state, and it
all means bad news for the entire French-German axis.
Meanwhile, we in Turkey, who have almost miraculously remained
unshaken by the crisis in Europe, watched the defeat of Sarkozy almost
as though it was a national duel between us and the French leader. As
is well known, since the day he took over at Paris' Elysee Palace,
Sarkozy has held strong and open anti-Turkey policies.
Over the course of his five years in office, Sarkozy carried out four
different political maneuvers against Turkey. The first was to call
for a special commission with the job of drawing the borders of
Europe, thereby shedding some light on the possible expansion of the
EU. The real goal here was to show that Turkey was neither
geographically nor culturally speaking part of Europe.
However, a 2010 report published by this committee, a committee formed
at the insistence of France, underscored that the concept of `European
borders' was defined not by geography, but rather by values. The
report found the EU must respect the promises made to all candidate
member countries, and that the accession processes should continue.
The decision was like a slap in Sarkozy's face.
The second move by Sarkozy, who was unsuccessful in branding Turkey as
not belonging to Europe, was to block a full five of the 35 different
accession talk chapters between Turkey and the EU. He was not
technically able to bring the accession process to an end, as a joint
vote by the 27 EU member countries would have been necessary for this,
but this tactic was successful at slowing the talks to nearly a
standstill. Perhaps the real aim was to force Turkey to push away from
the table. But this move also really did nothing but increase
antipathy toward France.
The third maneuver was to try and pass a bill through the French
parliament that would bring fines as well as prison sentences to those
who would deny the Armenian genocide. But this step by Sarkozy was
also frozen in its tracks when the Constitutional Council found the
bill to be contrary to the constitution.
Will Hollande at the helm of Paris mean that all of Turkey's problems
will suddenly disappear? Well, the two leaders (Sarkozy and Hollande)
do have parallel views on the Armenian issue. But now, extra efforts
on this front do have to take into account the French Constitutional
Council. And keeping in mind the general economic crisis and a
negative pubic opinion, it would not be realistic to expect Hollande
to be an enthusiastic supporter of Turkey on the EU accession front.
Though, it is clear already that he won't be quite the enemy that
Sarkozy was. And this could reflect positively on the accession
process.
In this new period before us, even just leaving behind the hostile
approaches and rudenesses that don't suit standard diplomatic
courtesies will be a great victory. And so I congratulate the French
voters, who despite all of the various negativities of the times, did
not credit the extreme right-wing rhetoric out there. Both France and
Europe will be much better off without Sarkozy and other populist
leaders of his ilk.
May 11 2012
Sarkozy and his four losses against Turkey
ABDÃ`LHAMÄ°T BÄ°LÄ°CÄ°
[email protected]
There is no question that, for a politician like Nicolas Sarkozy, who
despite coming from nothing has always managed to look on from above
with a smirk on his face, losing the election caused great pain. But
what no doubt magnified this pain even more for Sarkozy was losing to
the Socialist Party's second choice, Francois Hollande, whom Sarkozy
never really took seriously.
Sarkozy's defeat bodes different things for his political career,
French politics in general and a Europe engulfed in crisis. Even
though it is not yet clear what Hollande's victory will bring, the
fact that Sarkozy -- who engaged in anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim
politics -- lost is meaningful for European values. Now, of course, in
order for Hollande to really leave an imprint on France, his party
must be successful in the upcoming June parliamentary elections.
News of Sarkozy's defeat -- making him the 11th European leader to
lose his seat due to the ongoing financial crisis -- put economic
circles on immediate alert. That's because this defeat means a serious
blow to the France-Germany axis of belt-tightening policies
implemented recently in Europe in regard to the financial crisis. The
new government promises to lower the age of retirement from 62 to 60,
plans to increase the employment rate through the hiring of more
government clerks and plots to tax 75 percent those earning more than
1 million euros annually. At the same time news of Hollande's victory
came in, news of the shattering defeat of center-right and left
parties in Greece that had been implementing strict belt-tightening
policies there also came in; add to this electoral losses for Angela
Merkel and her partners in Germany's Schleswig-Holstein state, and it
all means bad news for the entire French-German axis.
Meanwhile, we in Turkey, who have almost miraculously remained
unshaken by the crisis in Europe, watched the defeat of Sarkozy almost
as though it was a national duel between us and the French leader. As
is well known, since the day he took over at Paris' Elysee Palace,
Sarkozy has held strong and open anti-Turkey policies.
Over the course of his five years in office, Sarkozy carried out four
different political maneuvers against Turkey. The first was to call
for a special commission with the job of drawing the borders of
Europe, thereby shedding some light on the possible expansion of the
EU. The real goal here was to show that Turkey was neither
geographically nor culturally speaking part of Europe.
However, a 2010 report published by this committee, a committee formed
at the insistence of France, underscored that the concept of `European
borders' was defined not by geography, but rather by values. The
report found the EU must respect the promises made to all candidate
member countries, and that the accession processes should continue.
The decision was like a slap in Sarkozy's face.
The second move by Sarkozy, who was unsuccessful in branding Turkey as
not belonging to Europe, was to block a full five of the 35 different
accession talk chapters between Turkey and the EU. He was not
technically able to bring the accession process to an end, as a joint
vote by the 27 EU member countries would have been necessary for this,
but this tactic was successful at slowing the talks to nearly a
standstill. Perhaps the real aim was to force Turkey to push away from
the table. But this move also really did nothing but increase
antipathy toward France.
The third maneuver was to try and pass a bill through the French
parliament that would bring fines as well as prison sentences to those
who would deny the Armenian genocide. But this step by Sarkozy was
also frozen in its tracks when the Constitutional Council found the
bill to be contrary to the constitution.
Will Hollande at the helm of Paris mean that all of Turkey's problems
will suddenly disappear? Well, the two leaders (Sarkozy and Hollande)
do have parallel views on the Armenian issue. But now, extra efforts
on this front do have to take into account the French Constitutional
Council. And keeping in mind the general economic crisis and a
negative pubic opinion, it would not be realistic to expect Hollande
to be an enthusiastic supporter of Turkey on the EU accession front.
Though, it is clear already that he won't be quite the enemy that
Sarkozy was. And this could reflect positively on the accession
process.
In this new period before us, even just leaving behind the hostile
approaches and rudenesses that don't suit standard diplomatic
courtesies will be a great victory. And so I congratulate the French
voters, who despite all of the various negativities of the times, did
not credit the extreme right-wing rhetoric out there. Both France and
Europe will be much better off without Sarkozy and other populist
leaders of his ilk.