Turkish Daily News
Oct 6 2006
EU wants to trap Turkey
Friday, October 6, 2006
After the European Parliament made unfavorable alterations to its
report on Turkey, all eyes turned to the EU Commission’s progress
report. There is no consistency in the decisions taken and reports
published by the EU when it comes to Turkey.
Orhan Kilercioðlu
After the European Parliament made unfavorable alterations to its
report on Turkey, all eyes turned to the EU Commission’s progress
report. There is no consistency in the decisions taken and reports
published by the EU when it comes to Turkey. In other words, the
decisions and reports by the EU are constantly altered, and member
countries seem to be competing with each other to introduce their own
agenda and interests. This tendency has become acute, particularly
after the decision on Dec. 17, 2004 to begin accession negotiations.
Naturally this attitude is annoying to Turkey, which is trying to
adopt the Copenhagen criteria but which is constantly accosted with
new demands not previously cited as preconditions for membership. The
EU even deems it appropriate to demand that Turkey adhere to certain
conditions that even its own members do not.
While some EU member countries are harshly critical of Turkey,
others support it and emphasize its importance to the continent. In
other words, the EU appears to be confused and undecided on the
matter of Turkey.
The mainly technical negotiations between Turkey and the EU for
membership are constantly being diverted with the introduction of
certain political interests into the process. While Turkey needs to
confront the claims on the so-called Armenian genocide, it now has to
face new fictitious stories about genocides perpetrated against the
Pontus Greeks and our Assyrian Christian brothers. We are waiting to
see what the EU will make up in its next report.
Why don’t any of these reports mention the genocide Greece
perpetrated against Turks in Ýzmir, Manisa, Uþak and other provinces
during our War of Independence? Why is there no mention of the mass
murders perpetrated against Turkish Cypriots by Greek Cypriots? No
one talks about the massacres on Cyprus in the 1950s and 1960s.
The double standards practiced by the EU are upsetting the Turkish
nation. We can add to the number of such examples. What about the
inhumane treatment suffered by and the limitations imposed on freedom
of religion of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, which
continues today? We can also mention the illegal immigrants being
left to die by Greece in Turkish waters. Not a word of criticism can
be heard from the EU on these issues. We see in the newspapers that
three Turks were removed from a party’s list of parliamentary
candidates in Holland because they refused to accept the Armenian
"genocide." What kind of freedom of speech and democracy is the EU
practicing?
It appears that the EU has no compunction about limiting the
freedom of speech and freedom of religion of some people and even
tries to criminalize its most basic tenets. They may argue that such
laws are only practiced by Holland. If this is the case, how can it
turn to us and criticize Turkish laws because they include similar
clauses?
Why does the EU insist on forcing Turkey to reassess and change
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK)? How can it intervene in
the way our Sunni and Alawite brothers live and create useless
tension?
The biggest mistake the EU committed was to accept Greek Cyprus as
a member. Even though the EU countless times claimed it would never
admit countries that have problems with their neighbors, it still
accepted Greek Cyprus. Why would it do such a thing? Everyone knows
the reason. It now wants Turkey to open its ports and airports to
Greek Cypriot cargo. Isn’t the attitude a little strange?
It is obvious that the EU is currently making its own rules and
that the reports it publishes and decisions it takes have nothing to
do with the much-praised criteria. As the screening process
continues, Turkey is faced with incredible pressure from the union.
Turkey is being forced into a direction it does not want.
In conclusion, the union is committing serious errors when it comes
to its relations with Turkey. It is violating the principles it wants
Turkey to adopt. It needs to abide by signed agreements and past
promises. It needs to stop using its own domestic political concerns
to push Turkey into a corner. It needs to be sincere. If not, it will
be the EU that will suffer the consequences.
–Boundary_(ID_cn/ZmIY0SByvpmpXH+Y+ Jw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
