Zaman, Turkey
June 19 2005
‘Turkey Will Continue on Its Way’
By Ali Akkus, Celil Sagir
Published: Sunday 19, 2005
zaman.com
Although the European Union (EU) is experiencing the deepest crisis
in its history, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, watching the
developments closely, stressed that Turkey is determined to continue
its reform process.
Commenting on the EU crisis to Zaman, Gul said: “We are looking
to our own business. The EU is the spurfor Turkey’s transformation
process. Turkey has not achieved this on its own in 80 years so it
is doing this with the support of an external political power.” Gul
also spoke against attempts to produce scenarios of disaster from
the EU crisis. Reminding that Turkish people still have the right
to say “no” to the membership process after the negotiations start,
the Foreign Minister referred to the case of Norway. Touching upon
the headscarf scandals at graduation ceremonies in Turkey, Gul noted:
“It is like making the water flow uphill to implement a ban, which
exists nowhere in the world, at Turkish universities.”
Describing the German Parliament’s decision on the Armenian genocide
allegations as “unacceptable”, Gul expressed that Germans themselves
feel guilty of cruelties towards Jewish people. “They are in a
psychological search for a partner for themselves. If you ask them
‘What is Armenian issue?’ they cannot give an answer. There are three
million Turks in Germany and this is a decision that would cause strong
animosity against them,” Gul assessed. Gul also evaluated Turkish
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer’s veto of bureaucrats appointed by the
Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and remarked that
if definitive appointments are not approved then they will continue
with proxies.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Gul said Turkey would
not step back from its reform program despite the deep crisis within
the EU. “We are looking to our own business,” he added. Minister Gul
made crucials statement to Zaman on a series of issues, from the EU
to the Extended Middle East Project and Armenian issue to headscarf
and appointments.
There are interpretations that Turkey will be affected negatively from
the collapse of the EU summit. Do you have any concerns about this?
It is sure that what has happened in the EU will have some effects,
but we have to look at the broader picture. There is confusion in
main countries of the EU regarding the enlargement. Europe is in a
great trouble. We have to accept this as normal.
Surveys show that people have concerns regarding their future. They
feel unsafe and worried about their economic and social problems. If
you check European economic performances, there are indicators that
confirm this. These should be acknowledged. The EU leaders are facing
these but there are promises that they have given. There are both
conjectural problems and strategic targets and realities. How would
they balance these? Negotiations with Turkey will start on October
3rd. One cannot ignore the troubles within Europe. Criteria, standards
and thresholds will be increased during the negotiation process. In
fact, opportunities that were missed should be thought of. Those,
who criticized us on December 17th, are an example of lack of vision.
Aren’t those who criticized your policy at that time, such as
Republican People’s Party leader Deniz Baykal, continuing their
criticisms more strongly right now?
Of course they continue but that just confirms their lack of vision.
If you listened to them, Turkey would become an introverted country
with no connections to the outside world and always fighting with
imaginary internal problems. That’s why they are also split into two
within their party. There are people who have vision in their party
as well, but of course, I have no right to interfere in their internal
relations within the party.
There is a feeling in Turkey ready to accept a privileged
partnership. What is your comment on this?
We have no time to listen to these. First, it is important to
grasp what the EU is. The EU is the spur for Turkey’s transformation
process. Turkey has not achieved this on its own in 80 years so it is
doing this with the support of an external political power. We should
judge this for whether it will benefit or damage Turkey. Because these
overlap with our own program, we see them as benefiting Turkish people
and Turkey. We basically believe that more democracy, more freedom,
more liberty mean more benefits to Turkey and to Turkish people. If the
Copenhagen Criteria were against Turkey, we would never have complied
with them. This is exactly what we meant when we said ‘If for any
reason the EU process breaks off, we would continue with the reforms’.
Has the negative wind blowing from Europe led to calls for early
elections?
No, no. Is Turkey getting worse? Are the interest rates rising again,
is inflation rising, are shops and factories closing, is the export
rates decreasing, are new bans starting to appear against Turkey,
are freedoms being restricted? Under these conditions, the opposition
gets to call for early elections. But are any of these things happening
in Turkey?
I do not understand why everybody has set their hearts on the
EU issue. I have not set my heart on it. When Turkey finishes the
negotiation process, the Turkish public, the British public, the French
public will decide at that time whether Turkey will be a full member
or not. We are just dealing with our own business. We will continue
until the end. Perhaps, the French public will need Turkey more in
10 years time. Perhaps, the Turkish public will say ‘no’.
Didn’t the Norwegians act in this way? I just think about how I can
realize my economic development, social development, and cultural
development in this process. As a government, we just think about this.
Do you agree with the idea that the cost of EU crisis will be paid
by Turkey?
They are experiencing a big earthquake. Will they come and make
statements about Turkey? Their making a statement about Turkey means
a worse effect in the eyes of their public. Turkey’s flag was not
there. We didn’t go, we were not invited. Other countries in the
same situation as us weren’t there either. The EU has entered the
most violent dispute in its history and ended in a fight which they
could not make up. Was I going to go there to wait in the hotel for
two days? Their meeting finished towards morning, and then they called
us to tell us what happened inside.
Even French leader Chirac who is in the worst situation says the
negotiations will start on October 3. What more can he do? Will he
speak like the Turkish Prime Minister? We will work day and night,
our friends are mobilized, and we do our best. If the French had said,
‘we will stop enlarging’. Would that be end of the world for us?
Is this the nightmare scenario?
Of course, anything could happen. If such a thing occurs, will we say
we sank? We will run our own reform process ourselves. Under such a
hard period, they confirmed the December 17 decisions. We cannot just
sit tight and wait. When they have a discussion among themselves,
I will concentrate on my own business. When I increase the life
standards of Turkish public, then everybody can decide what to do.
‘I called for reforms before Bush’
Most of the meetings in the US were much like the one about the
Extended Middle East Project. Is there any consensus at issue?
Our government never does anything in which it does not believe, either
by pressure or by giving concessions. Before the US President Bush
made statements about the strengthening of democratic reforms in the
region, I made an important speech about this issue in the OIC meeting
in Tehran. I told all the Muslim countries that we should tidy our
own houses, if we do not do this, our own public will suffer. Tidying
our houses means more democracy, transparency and a better style of
administration. It means the administrators giving account of their
actions. It means more equality between men and women. These are not
unfamiliar to us. They are a part of our belief.
As Turkey, we give great support for these. Those who do not understand
us make comments according to their own understandings, but we do
not give any credit to them.
You brought the anti-Islamism to the agenda by putting it in a written
document. Are new steps taken about this issue?
Due to exaggerations after September 11, there are disturbing practices
taking place against Muslims in the world. Muslims should not remain
silent. They should struggle in a civil and brave way. Our government
has raised these issues bravely in Paris, London and Washington. An
ambassador was charged for this issue for the first time in the level
of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The
ambassador is Turkish. Non-governmental organizations should support
this.
‘Germans look for partners for their genocide guilt’
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul also showed a severe reaction towards
the German Parliament for its approval of a draft bill relating
to the alleged Armenian genocide. “In Germany, Parliament took an
unacceptable decision. The Germans bear the guilt of the tortures
they made on the Jews. They are trying to find partners for their
guilt. If you ask them, what the Armenian issue is, they cannot even
say a few words. The decision is full of mistakes. They talk about
the declaration of the United Nations (UN) about this issue. There are
no declarations of international organizations on this issue. We want
them to show their evidence, they cannot show anything. There are no
court decisions or anything like this. While Erdogan’s letter to the
Armenian leader Kocharyan was passed over lightly, the speech Justice
Minister Cemil Cicek made in Parliament and the postponed conference
were given a large place. Our reaction was great. Our relations with
Germany are certain. There are three million Turkish people living
there. The biggest issue is to provide the integration of Turks. This
is a decision, which will encourage hostility towards Turks. The
present government of German Chancellor Schroeder is against these,”
Gul explained.
‘Imposing a ban on headscarf is like making water flow uphill’
When asked about the sacrifice of a mother who was not allowed into
the graduation ceremony of her child in Erzurum due to the headscarf,
Gul said, ‘this is embarrassing’. Saying that the headscarf is
the belief of public, Gul said: “This issue will be solved in a
way leaving the least abuse possible. Let me speak openly. The
Erzurum case is something, which reveals the shame. The headscarf
is something coming from inside our society, not a superficial thing
taken from outside. It is a part of our own belief and culture. The
headscarf is an outcome of Turkish conservatism and modernization. It
is meaningless to show Turkey as a country, which restricts basic
rights and principles. Imposing the headscarf ban in Turkey, which
is not implemented anywhere in the world is like making water flow
uphill. There is no such a ban in Paris, I say Paris, no ban in Moscow,
no ban in Brussels, Washington and Cairo and there is such a ban in
Turkey. This is something, which cannot happen.”
Gul also finds the debates over early elections and presidential
elections meaningless. “I just laugh before this kind of debate,
opened by people who have nothing to do with it. When the time comes,
we can sit and talk about these. If Turkey starts to deteriorate,
if everything goes wrong, if black clouds appear, then these kinds
of things can be mentioned.
‘If definitive appointments are not approved, we can go on with
deputies’
Evaluating the veto of bureaucrats appointed by the government by the
president Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Gul has called everybody to look into
this. “We have many general managers whose definitive appointments
were not approved, but we should consider their success. This should
be questioned. You just look at our general managers who carry out
their jobs with definitive appointment. Those in the past just made
Turkey go downhill. This should be questioned. We came to power not
with the approval of 4 or 5 politicians but with the votes of public.
We have to work. So, we want to work with people we trust and
believe. This is our right. If definitive appointments are not
approved, we will continue to contest this,” Gul said.