TURKEY POISED TO BEGIN EU ACCESSION TALKS
By Andrew Borowiec
Washington Times
Oct 4 2005
October 2, 2005
NICOSIA, Cyprus – After a 40-year struggle against European reluctance,
Muslim Turkey stands on the precarious threshold of the predominantly
Christian European Union (EU).
The accession negotiating process that formally opens tomorrow
is fraught with uncertainty amid European doubts about Turkey’s
credentials. The talks may last 10 years or more and could easily
stumble over new obstacles.
Until virtually the last minute, Austria objected to the nature to
the talks, insisting on a “privileged partnership” status for Turkey
rather than full EU membership. An emergency meeting of EU foreign
ministers was called for today in Luxembourg to find an acceptable
formula before the talks convene.
As Yasar Yakis, a former Turkish foreign minister and member of the
governing Justice and Development Party put it: “It is too early to
celebrate. The talks will be very tough, tougher than for any other
candidate country.”
Nonetheless, it is a major step for Turkey in its bid to join a
lukewarm Europe where the image of Ottoman conquests “by fire and
sword” is still very much a part of history texts, while some populist
politicians still speak of “the scourge of Christendom.”
In Turkey, where Islam and secular principles clash almost daily,
enthusiasm for membership in what politicians describe as “a Christian
club” has waned somewhat as the Europeans stalled at the green light.
When it finally came last Dec. 17, even more doubts emerged and it
took more than nine months to prepare the talks.
Some issues ignored Leaders of the 25-nation EU, apparently
disregarding opinion polls hostile to Turkey’s membership, insisted
on opening the negotiations on time, even if it required glossing
over certain Turkish acts said to be contrary to European principles.
These include the relentless war against the Kurdish rebels that has
caused more than 35,000 deaths, the denial of certain Kurdish cultural
and nationalist demands, refusal to admit Turkey’s role in the World
War I massacre of Armenians, the recent indictment against a prominent
author accused of “insulting Turkishness,” and the persistent shadow
of the influential Turkish military over the country’s politics.
Equally troubling to the Europeans is Cyprus, where Turkey benefited
from the EU’s reluctance to become mired in yet another problem:
Although Turkey refused to recognize the Greek Cypriot government —
an EU member — and has kept its seaports closed to Greek Cypriot
vessels, the EU preferred not to penalize it or delay admission talks.
Stubborn over Cyprus
A joint declaration by the EU said merely that Turkey should recognize
Cyprus before it is allowed to join the union — when the protracted
negotiations end.
Commented the Athens daily Kathimerini: “The outcome involved endless
talks between European officials, behind the scene contacts .. and
much wasting of time and energy.” .
Even the presence of some 30,000 Turkish troops in northern Cyprus,
in effect occupying 37 percent of the territory of an EU nation,
was not allowed to hinder or delay the accession talks at this stage.
The government in Ankara has shown considerable stubbornness in
the dispute over Cyprus, with statements from Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan that no Turkish concession on the issue of the divided
island would be made before the start of the talks. Even stronger was
a statement by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul that Turkey’s position
on Cyprus “will never change.”
Hopes remain strong However, to attenuate such categorical views,
senior officials in Ankara explain that once the Cyprus problem has
been solved (to Turkey’s satisfaction), recognition of the Greek
Cypriot government in the southern part of the island would be
considered, but only if a parallel “Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus” is internationally recognized.
Turkey’s size and its possible stabilizing role in a highly volatile
area where Europe and Asia meet has been systematically underlined
by some EU politicians, who feel that rejecting Turkey would push it
either toward radical Islam or equally radical nationalism.
Even Greece, Turkey’s historic foe, feels that when Turkey belongs to
the EU, its nationalism and military ambitions could be more easily
controlled. For the time being, both countries, which are members
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, continue improving their
military equipment while staging mock dogfights over the contested
waters of the Aegean Sea.
Population is growing A number of politicians led by former French
President Valery Giscard d’Estaing continue to insist that Turkey “has
nothing in common with Europe,” even though 5 percent of its territory
of 297,000 square miles lies on the European side of the Bosporus.
While the European business community points to Turkey’s growth
over the past three years and its value as a business partner,
politicians worry about the possible burden of a poor country of
71 million with a rising population that soon will exceed Germany’s
present 82 million people.
Europe’s reluctance to admit Turkey was partly caused by the presence
of more than 3 million Turkish workers, mainly in Germany, Austria,
France and several north European countries. On the whole, these
temporary immigrants have shown little inclination to integrate or
adjust to European lifestyles.
Two negative referendums What alarmed some EU officials was that France
and the Netherlands rejected the proposed European constitution in
referendums last spring, mainly because voters interpreted the charter
as paving the road to Turkey’s EU membership.
Somewhat reluctantly, Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European
Commission, admitted that the union’s executive body could not
ignore “the signal sent by the electorate regarding Turkey.” Yet the
commission continued pushing for Turkey’s accession talks, a policy
seen by some as part of a drive to increase the EC’s influence and
economic clout.
To most Turks, being “European” has little meaning. Ataturk was
decisive In 1923, when the country reeled from the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the republic and simply
ordered it to “face West.” This included such measures as dropping
Arabic script and adopting the Latin alphabet instead and a ban on
the fez, the traditional colorful headgear.
Christian Sunday replaced the Muslim Friday as the official day of
rest, but Islam has remained a powerful spiritual influence for most
Turks. Even now, the country is torn by a debate over how Islamic or
secular modern Turkey should be.
Islamic revivals in some Turkish cities and universities, including
resistance to a ban on women wearing head scarves in government
buildings, has caused concern among some Europeans about “the Islamic
cloud over Europe.”
Ankara fully committed Although throughout much of its modern history
Turkey has been regarded as a power crippled by its internal problems,
Turkish officials now point to an unquestionably impressive list of
recent reforms. In statements and interviews, Mr. Erdogan stigmatized
“the campaign against us,” which raised European concern about “the
growth of militant Turkish chauvinism.”
Mr. Erdogan has repeatedly stressed that Turkey is “fully committed
to the European process” and said Ankara would work to change the
nation’s mentality and “take whatever steps are required from us.”
Yet on key issues such as the Turkish military presence in Cyprus, the
Turkish government allowed little room for discussion or compromise,
saying the Turkish Cypriot approval of the U.N.
unification plan, rejected by the Greek side, was a sufficient gesture
of good will.
Old ghosts linger An especially sensitive subject is the fate of
its Armenian population during World War I, when an estimated 1.5
million perished during their forced “resettlement march” to desert
areas. Despite European pressure, Turkey refuses to call the deaths a
genocide and says the “resettlement” was prompted by Armenian support
for Russia, then Turkey’s enemy.
Last month, the European Commission decried the prosecution of Orhan
Pamuk, a Turkish author who told a Swiss magazine “30,000 Kurds and
a million Armenians were killed in these lands, and nobody but me
dares talk about it.”
Mr. Pamuk was accused of insulting “Turkey’s national character”
and could face a prison term for possible violation of Turkey’s new
penal code.
The problem of the Kurds — the long-suffering “orphans of the
universe” scattered throughout Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria —
has poisoned Turkey’s internal peace for more than two centuries,
with 32 uprisings drowned in blood. Despite some official Turkish
concessions to Kurdish demands for self-expression, any bid for
autonomy is rejected as undermining national unity.
After several pauses in its guerrilla war, the left-wing Kurdistan
Workers’ Party recently resumed its harassing attacks; Kurdish
nationalist demonstrations spread to several cities and were suppressed
by police. However, rebel demands for autonomy do not appear to
be shared by all Kurds, many of whom have been integrated into the
mainstream. What tarnished Turkey’s policy toward the Kurds is the slow
application of promised reforms recognizing their language and culture.
European concern about Turkey’s democracy has been heightened by the
high profile of the Turkish military, considered the guardian of the
secular system introduced by Ataturk and known as “Kemalism.”
Military calls shots On four occasions since Ataturk’s death in 1938,
the military has intervened in Turkey’s politics — most recently
in 1980, when the country was in turmoil and the government seemed
helpless. Three years later, after crushing terrorist groups and
purging the ranks of quarreling politicians, the generals and their
troops returned to barracks.
Under EU pressure, the role of the military in the powerful National
Security Council has been reduced, though senior officers issue
periodic statements to show vigilance.
The last such statement — in April, by Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, chief of
the general staff — was a blunt assessment of Turkey’s domestic and
foreign concerns, proving that the military is not yet ready to take
a back seat.
Gen. Ozkok described Turkey’s military presence in Cyprus as essential
to security.
Gen. Ozkok, known for pro-EU sympathies, is due to retire next year
and his likely replacement, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, is described by
diplomats as “an unknown quantity.”