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WITH SARKOZY GONE AND MERKEL WEAKENED, TURKS RESUME EU ENTRY BID
By Amiel Ungar
Arutz Sheva
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155937#.T7afV9yVPp8
May 18 2012
Israel
With Sarkozy gone and Angela Merkel weakened, Turkey is counting on
a more favorable reception in Brussels.
The elections in France ousted from power one of the leading opponents
of Turkish accession to the European Union- Nicolas Sarkozy.
Although the new French President, Francois Hollande, ruled out the
possibility of Turkey entering the European Union during his five-year
term the Turks are optimistic enough to reopen their entry bid.
There are three major reasons accounting for the renewed Turkish
optimism.
Turkey viewed Sarkozy as the main stumbling block, due to domestic
political considerations, part of his desire to win over voters from
the extreme right. Turkey's European affairs minister Egemen Bagis
commented: It worked in 2007, he added, "but I think it did not work
in the second election."
Sarkozy also sought the Armenian vote by pushing through a law that
would criminalize denial of the of the Armenian massacre by the Turks
during the First World War. The law was overturned by the French
constitutional court.
Hollande was the beneficiary of Moslem votes during the election
and appointed three Muslim ministers, including the government
spokeswoman. The Socialist victory was celebrated at the Bastille
square and at that celebration Moroccan and Algerian flags nearly
outnumbered the French tricolor.
For the Turks, this at least means that the new government will be
more sensitive to Moslem voters and cannot give the appearance of
excluding Turkey on these grounds.
The Turks also see a weakening of German Chancellor Angela Merkel as
a result of recent state elections in Germany. The main opposition
party, the Social Democratic Party, is on record as favoring Turkish
entry into the European Union. The most that Merkel would've granted
the Turks is a privileged partnership, something the Turks reject as
second rate status.
Turkey would like the Social Democrats and the Greens to replace the
current government, but even a grand coalition between the Christian
Democrats and the Social Democrats could soften German opposition to
Turkish entry.
A third factor that is encouraging to the Turks is the deteriorating
status of the traditional enemy - Greece - within the European Union.
Particularly over the Cyprus issue, Greece and Cyprus have been
blocking progress of negotiations between Turkey and the EU. As the
Greeks are far from the flavor of the month, Ankara may conclude that
Greek opposition could prove less influential.
Obstacles would remain, with the most important one being the state of
democracy within Turkey that has been recently in retreat. Perhaps the
Turks are counting on sentiments such as that expressed in a recent
op-ed in Bloomberg "without the active pull of the EU negotiations,
Turkey's development as a free democracy has stalled".
In other words, the EU has to restart negotiations even before
Turkey has demonstrated its democratic bona fides in order to check
anti-democratic trends.
By Amiel Ungar
Arutz Sheva
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155937#.T7afV9yVPp8
May 18 2012
Israel
With Sarkozy gone and Angela Merkel weakened, Turkey is counting on
a more favorable reception in Brussels.
The elections in France ousted from power one of the leading opponents
of Turkish accession to the European Union- Nicolas Sarkozy.
Although the new French President, Francois Hollande, ruled out the
possibility of Turkey entering the European Union during his five-year
term the Turks are optimistic enough to reopen their entry bid.
There are three major reasons accounting for the renewed Turkish
optimism.
Turkey viewed Sarkozy as the main stumbling block, due to domestic
political considerations, part of his desire to win over voters from
the extreme right. Turkey's European affairs minister Egemen Bagis
commented: It worked in 2007, he added, "but I think it did not work
in the second election."
Sarkozy also sought the Armenian vote by pushing through a law that
would criminalize denial of the of the Armenian massacre by the Turks
during the First World War. The law was overturned by the French
constitutional court.
Hollande was the beneficiary of Moslem votes during the election
and appointed three Muslim ministers, including the government
spokeswoman. The Socialist victory was celebrated at the Bastille
square and at that celebration Moroccan and Algerian flags nearly
outnumbered the French tricolor.
For the Turks, this at least means that the new government will be
more sensitive to Moslem voters and cannot give the appearance of
excluding Turkey on these grounds.
The Turks also see a weakening of German Chancellor Angela Merkel as
a result of recent state elections in Germany. The main opposition
party, the Social Democratic Party, is on record as favoring Turkish
entry into the European Union. The most that Merkel would've granted
the Turks is a privileged partnership, something the Turks reject as
second rate status.
Turkey would like the Social Democrats and the Greens to replace the
current government, but even a grand coalition between the Christian
Democrats and the Social Democrats could soften German opposition to
Turkish entry.
A third factor that is encouraging to the Turks is the deteriorating
status of the traditional enemy - Greece - within the European Union.
Particularly over the Cyprus issue, Greece and Cyprus have been
blocking progress of negotiations between Turkey and the EU. As the
Greeks are far from the flavor of the month, Ankara may conclude that
Greek opposition could prove less influential.
Obstacles would remain, with the most important one being the state of
democracy within Turkey that has been recently in retreat. Perhaps the
Turks are counting on sentiments such as that expressed in a recent
op-ed in Bloomberg "without the active pull of the EU negotiations,
Turkey's development as a free democracy has stalled".
In other words, the EU has to restart negotiations even before
Turkey has demonstrated its democratic bona fides in order to check
anti-democratic trends.