COMMENT: FRANCE, ARMENIA AND THE UNBEARABLE ATTRACTION OF TURCOPHOBIC POLITICS
Suat Kýnýklýoðlu
ABHaber, Belgium
EU-Turkey News Network
Oct 4 2006
This week a good number of media outlets will cover in great detail
the visit of French President Jacques Chirac to Armenia. They are
right to do so. Chirac’s visit to Armenia signifies a new level of
French willingness to escalate tensions between France and Turkey.
Before getting into the details, motivations and outcome of this visit,
however, let me underline in no uncertain terms that those who think
they can get away with such irresponsible political behavior are
mistaken. And let me emphasize that I am not referring to immature
calls for boycotting French products or small demonstrations in front
of the French Embassy. I am also not referring to a senseless barrage
of insults against the French Republic and its crimes committed in
Algeria. In fact, I am referring to a much deeper phenomenon.
Although many of our European colleagues may think otherwise, since
Turkey’s EU drive accelerated in 2003, the Turkish elite have been
able to acutely register the ups and downs of the intra-European
debate on Turkey.
Not only the Turkish intelligentsia but also ordinary Turks are
very well aware of which countries, political leaders and parties
are obstructing Turkey’s EU aspirations. They also take notice of
what’s happening on the Armenian issue. It is increasingly becoming
clear that French, Austrian, Danish and Dutch opposition to Turkey’s
EU membership is based not only on pure political interests. There
is a much deeper process at work. We are dealing with a new version
of Turcophobia. I am referring to a non-clinical situation, a very
peculiarly negative attitude or a compilation of prejudices against
Turkey. French Turcophobia has a particularly wide base and goes
well beyond President Chirac or his entourage. For example, Nicholas
Sarkozy’s recent comments that Turkey had no place in the European
Union were a clear sign that the next French election will highlight
Turcophobic issues in the approaching presidential election.
So what does Chirac’s visit to Armenia serve, then? Let me explain.
It serves four things. First, it extends crucial political support
to Armenia that is run by a small nationalist clan which suppresses
democracy and has hijacked Armenia’s foreign policy debate. Thanks
to the Kocharian clan, Armenian foreign policy now rests on Turkey’s
recognition of "genocide;" something that is not going to happen but
will help prolong Kocharian’s oligarchic rule. Second, it provides
political support to a country that occupies 20 percent of Azerbaijani
territory, including seven regions outside of Nagorno-Karabakh and
thus rewards intransigent political behavior.
Third, it cripples the precarious progress made in the Turkish domestic
debate on the Armenian issue. Fourth, by linking the Armenian issue
to Turkey’s EU accession it invites a serious deterioration in
French-Turkish relations with a potential impact on economic interests.
I have been to Armenia three times in the last three years. In all
three of my visits I met young, enthusiastic and talented Armenians
who wanted normal relations with Turkey. They wanted an open border
and to live in a normal country that was not run by Kocharian’s
oligarchs. They agree that the road to normalization with Turkey should
not start with how we describe the events of 1915. Young Armenians
want a future in Europe, believe in Western ways and aspire to be
part of the European family.
Chirac’s visit only served to silence these progressive Armenians and
emboldened those who rule Armenia with an iron fist and will eventually
isolate Armenia from the rest of the world.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline has already bypassed Armenia. Turkey
has repeatedly told Yerevan that it risks being isolated further
if it does not act responsibly in the Karabakh negotiations. The
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku railway project is well under way and
unfortunately will even further isolate Armenia from the rest of the
region and the world. This is exactly what the Kocharian clan wants, as
"genocide" recognition is a recipe for impasse. This impasse allows
them to rule Armenia, sell its infrastructure to Russia and run a
small, oligarchic and impoverished country.
In the final analysis, Chirac’s visit to Armenia may provide a photo
opportunity for Kocharian, a couple of days of media attention and
political satisfaction for the diaspora. But what real good is in it
for Armenia? What does such a provocative visit accomplish in terms
of the resolution of the Karabakh conflict or the increasingly doomed
isolation of Armenia? What does French support to Armenia offer in
terms of alleviating Armenian poverty or the lingering democracy
deficit in Armenia?
Also, I am amazed at the level of French naivete, which rests on
the belief that the price for angering Turkey and/or excluding
Turkey from the EU is manageable. Kindness is the key word when
there is a need for troops in Lebanon or the issue is European energy
diversification. Thoughtfulness dominates when Turkey is asked to play
a moderating role upon its citizens in a variety of European countries
as immigration/integration issues become extremely important. Yet
France has no qualms about opening old wounds and provoking a country
over a very sensitive historic issue.
What does France hope to achieve from sowing the seeds of antagonism
and provoking Turkey in an increasingly shrinking world that has
brought civilizational discord to the doorstep of Europe? This is
unclear. What is clear though is that France has become the leading
Turcophobic state in Europe.
–Boundary_(ID_nyalAXjLvceYMYn3xXFcGQ)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
