Zaman, Turkey
April 20 2005
EU Ambassadors to Evaluate Erdogan’s Statements
By Suleyman Kurt
Published: Wednesday 20, 2005
zaman.com
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement of
“Contentions from the European Union (EU) appear in front of us
making the effort to fragment us ” shocked the EU diplomats.
EU diplomats in Ankara maintained “unofficial contacts” with the
Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Justice and Development Party (AKP)
and tried to understand the meaning behind the Prime Minister’s
statement. A monthly meeting that will be held by EU ambassadors in
Ankara tomorrow will be grounds to discuss these statements. Some
attribute Erdogan’s rise to “Turkey’s so-called failure to show an
earlier performance in its EU bid” following the December 17 summit
while some interpretations suggest that his announcements would
strengthen the recent “nationalist” discourse. A diplomat from the EU
said: “When we discussed the issue with AKP deputies, they commented
that this might be addressed on the inside, in the domestic public
opinion; however, they even do not hold any concrete thoughts.” The
same diplomat summarized important issues on the agenda between
Turkey and the EU and assessed: “Cyprus, the Armenian issue, Alevis,
Ocalan (leader of the terrorist organization the Kurdistan Worker’s
Party (PKK) issues. There are no new demands on Turkey with regard to
these issues as far as I know. Why, then, did Mr. Erdogan make these
statements?” Commenting that the government might be “stuck in the
middle” with regard to the Cyprus and Armenian issues, the European
diplomat asked: “Might the government be searching for a new way out?
We ask the members of AKP. To whom does the Prime Minister Erdogan
intend this message?” Another diplomat from the EU clearly expressed
his “confusion” and asked: “Can this be a new strategy of the Turkish
government?” Trying to understand what Erdogan was aiming to achieve
through his statements, the diplomat also added: “If only we could
meet with him more often. We would be able to understand each other
better.”
Diplomats pointed out that Prime Minister Erdogan’s evaluations
regarding the EU included perspectives suggesting that there is only
a single view within the Union. They shared the idea that the “EU is
a unity of different ideas and views. These should be evaluated based
on this characteristic.” European diplomats claim that the Union has
never come to Turkey with a proposal that might cause the
disintegration of another country and they do not have such an
approach. A Turkish diplomat, on the other hand, complained: “We
cannot clearly answer our European counterparts’ questions regarding
what Mr. Erdogan’s statements might mean.”