Kathimerini, Greece
Oct 1 2005

At Turkey’s heart, a major paradox

A letter by Turkish Ambassador to Paris Uluc Ozulker that was
published yesterday in the French daily Le Figaro in which he
portrayed Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios, who is
based in Istanbul, as a local religious leader is one more piece of
evidence that our eastern neighbor is far from ready to come under
the European Union roof. Turkey has a long path to tread before
reaching the EU’s political and institutional standards. European
political culture is even further away.

The letter by the Turkish envoy pales in comparison to the legal suit
against acclaimed novelist Orhan Pamuk (after his comments about
Turkey’s killing of Armenians and Kurds) and the court decision
halting a conference on the Armenian massacre under Ottoman rule. But
the political origins of the incidents are common – they are all
products of Ankara’s state ideology. Although clouds are gathering
over Turkey’s EU ambitions, Ankara continues to provoke people’s
democratic sensitivities. Sure, Turkey is not trying to put
additional obstacles in its path; its reaction is in keeping with its
character – and it is not willing to change mentality and practices.

True, the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken significant
steps in introducing EU-minded legal reforms. But their
implementation has been sorely lacking. Moreover, Ankara seems more
interested in formalities than in real implementation. It all seems
to boil down to the big paradox at the heart of the Turkish
establishment: Ankara is, on the one hand, in favor of EU membership,
but, on the other, it fears that European principles could also
unmake Turkey.

Caught up in this internal contradiction, Ankara wants membership
without having to adapt. Above all, it insists on seeing itself as a
fortress state. Its diplomatic maneuvering underscores a desire to
join the bloc on its own terms. In short, Turkey wants the rights
without the responsibilities, which demonstrates that the candidate
country is a complete stranger to European political norms.

There is no such thing as Europe a la carte. As time goes by, Turkey
will be faced with an inescapable dilemma. It will either launch the
process that will transform it for good or the enterprise of full
membership will degenerate into a special partnership. Turkey has no
place in the European house unless it remakes itself.