ic Wales, United Kingdom
Oct 8 2005

EU talks Turkey

Staff Reporter, Western Mail

At the end of a week that saw the EU agree to formally begin
membership talks with Turkey, Wales MEP Eluned Morgan gives her
verdict on the ‘Turkey Question.’

THE European Union’s success has always lain in its unique ability to
draw countries towards peace, democracy and co-operation through the
magnetic pull of prosperity and stability. This week we witnessed a
climax of this process as EU countries gave the go-ahead to embark on
a new and uncharted phase of development.

On Monday, 18 years after it first applied to join the European Union
and after days of fierce wrangling, Turkey was finally allowed to
open formal negotiations on becoming a member. The move has divided
public opinion, both here and in Turkey. Indeed not since the
break-up of the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago have Europeans agonised
so much over the “Turkish question”.

At the European Parliament last year I voted in favour of starting
these formal negotiations. For someone who as a young member of
Amnesty International wrote countless letters to Turkish leaders
appealing for them to improve their human rights record, it was a
difficult decision. But I believe it was the right one.

For the EU to have slammed its door on Turkey, and thus symbolically
the Islamic world, at this terrorist-infested moment in history would
have been tragic. Turkey’s membership talks should be seen more as an
opportunity for reform and progress than a threat. Moreover, Monday
night’s decision marked the beginning, not the end, of what will be a
long, difficult process of negotiation for Turkey. Success is by no
means guaranteed.

Turkey still has to travel a long and bumpy path of economic, social
and environmental reform. It is a poor country. Its average income
per head of population is a mere $US2,790 compared to $5,270 in
Poland and $28,530 in the UK. Infant mortality rates are telling: 41
deaths per 1,000 births, a rate twice as bad as either Bulgaria or
Romania, and far higher than recent EU entrants such as Poland and
Slovenia.

The country’s recent social reforms also leave much to be desired.
Little progress has been made on women’s rights and not enough is
being done to tackle “honour killings”. Earlier this month acclaimed
Turkish novelist, Orhan Pamuk, was charged with the “public
denigrating of Turkish identity” and faces prison merely because he
claimed certain topics were off-limits in Turkey. There also remains
a long way to go on relations with Cyprus, Armenia and Turkey’s 12
million Kurds.

The EU has opened the door for Turkey, but it is just an opening. If
they fail to make up sufficient ground on the economy, social and
environmental reform, the door will remain closed.

But despite the difficulties and the challenges that lie ahead, there
remains good reason to work towards Turkey’s entry into the EU.

Of course, there are those who argue that Turkey is not “European
enough”, meaning that it is “too Muslim”. But the doomsday-style
prophesies of a “clash of civilisations” are misplaced. Though
Turkey’s people are mainly very religious, it is a fiercely secular
democracy that has historically enjoyed a close relationship with the
West.

Turkey is a founding member of the United Nations, a member of Nato,
the Council of Europe, the OECD, and an associate member of the
Western European Union. Modern Turkey is also a fundamental part of
our lives as modern Europeans. Thousands of Brits holiday there every
year, belly-dancing is the fitness fad of the moment, and we enjoy
kebabs.

We cannot ignore the benefits a closer alliance would provide. Turkey
lies near the unruly Caucasus republics, the hotspots of Central Asia
and, of course, the Middle East. It is a leading regional power that
exerts a stabilising influence on those countries, and it is in
Europe’s long-term interest that Turkey should be firmly anchored
into the EU.

Acting as a bridge between Europe and the Middle East, Turkey’s
inclusion in the European Union would be a real boost to our security
and will help close down a busy and prosperous black market route
from Asia. Currently 65% of UK asylum applicants and 80% of the UK
heroin supply comes through Turkey. Common EU standards on law
enforcement will turn this situation around.

It is in our own strategic interest to give Turkey a fair chance to
demonstrate whether it is capable of meeting the EU membership
conditions.

And make no mistake, if Turkey meets all these conditions it will be
quite a different Turkey from the Turkey of today.

It will be a Turkey where the EU’s policies and standards are
implemented and where the principles of democracy and human rights
are a daily reality. A Turkey where the rule of law is firmly rooted
in its society and state. A Turkey where European values successfully
coexist among a predominantly Muslim population.

Such a Turkey would prove an invaluable crossroads between East and
West, Islam and Christianity.