Zaman, Turkey
Dec 4 2004

‘Religious and Cultural Differences do not Hinder EU Membership’

Nearly 200 academics, journalists, politicians and religious figures
from Turkey, Europe and the US gathered in Brussels for the 8th
meeting of the Abant Platform, which was titled “Turkey’s EU Process:
Culture, Identity and Religion.” Among the participants was a
representative from the European Catholic Church Association, who
said yesterday, “European Union membership for Muslim Turkey has no
drawbacks.”

The keynote speakers during yesterday’s session were Professor Rik
Torfs, from Leuven University and Professor Niyazi Oktem. The
president of the Board of Trustees of Turkey’s Journalists and
Writers Foundation, Huseyin Gulerce, said that Abant’s spirit
generated new hope and excitement for Turkey. He shared his belief
that these meetings would only prove that differences between
cultures created richness.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Bulent Arinc and Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul as well as the Honorary President of the
Foundation, Mr. Fethullah Gulen, sent messages to the Platform.

The French Metropolit of the Greek Orthodox Church, Emmanual
Adamakis, ultimately said that the Fener Greek Patriarch supported
Turkey’s EU membership. He lamented however, that the institution’s
dormitories and schools remained closed and stressed that they
existed in Turkey in the name of Christianity, and did not have
ulterior motivations.

“Do not prevent the Church from educating children”, Adamakis said.
Adamakis addressed the illegal status of “ecumenical” and implored
Turkey to recognize the concept.

A representative of the Turkish Armenian Orthodox Patriarch, Sahag
Mashalian, recalled that Christianity reached the west through
Turkey. He then exhorted Turkey to show sufficient tolerance to other
religions even though from time to time such tolerance is
problematic.

Stephen Lante, a representative from the Europe Catholic Churches
Association, said that neither the Catholic Church, nor the Vatican,
regards the EU as a Christian club. Lante did criticize that
processes by which non-Muslims own property and establish foundations
and associations in Turkey were still flawed. He added that the issue
would be addressed on December 17th.

Belgian Professor Dirk Rochtus expressed his opposition to the idea
that because Turkey did not undergo an enlightenment process, and the
subsequent reforms like other European countries, it cannot be a part
of the EU.

Rochtus contended that these values could be learned. He Germany as
an example and said that even though Germany did not realize
enlightenment, it developed its own culture in the 19th century.

12.04.2004
Ali Ihsan Aydin, Selcuk Gultasli
Brussels