PATRONISING TURKEY IS A DANGEROUS GAME FOR EUROPE
By Denis MacShane
Financial Times, UK
Oct 11 2006
Europe is doing its level best to tell Turkey it is no longer wanted
as part of the European Union. It is a high-risk game with little to
gain and a great deal to lose. How much longer will this sec-ular,
democratic, Muslim country look westwards to a European future,
instead of turning east?
Take the proclamation by Jacques Chirac, president of France, on
a recent visit to Armenia. Indulging his hosts and delighting the
politically active Armenian diaspora in France, Mr Chirac said Turkey
should recognise the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians
in the turmoil of the first world war as "genocide". In doing so,
he unilaterally created a new condition of EU membership for Turkey.
This is rather like Tony Blair popping up in Madagascar or Algeria
and telling France to apologise for the postwar massacres undertaken
by French soldiers as they put down uprisings.
ADVERTISEMENT The Armenian massacres are a dreadful scar in the
memory of that proud people, torn apart by the many wars and foreign
interventions of the 20th century. But it was the decaying elements
of the Ottoman Empire that killed the Armenians, not the modern
Turkish Republic. If the EU is to demand apologies for historic
misdeeds from its existing members, let alone potential members,
then it may as well dissolve itself.
After Mr Chirac’s statement, Olli Rehn, EU enlargement commissioner,
reiterated that recognition of a genocide is not an official
precondition of membership. It was a welcome correction. But how do you
explain away the European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso,
saying that the era of EU enlargement is over?
This problem goes beyond the bluster of bureaucrats in Brussels or
an elderly French president on his way out of office. In April 2004,
European foreign ministers solemnly agreed to open trade links with
northern Cyprus. They have broken that promise. I took part in that
negotiation, and I find it shameful that powerful European states
are unable to enforce their own decisions.
Turkey wakes up almost every month to find a new hurdle on its path to
Europe. The mishandling of "the Turkish question" would seem laugh-able
were it not so important. The implicit repudiation of its European
ambitions is already fuelling support for radical groups in Turkish
domestic politics who argue that Europe is reneging on its pledge to
negotiate seriously. This matters because Turkey is pivotal to Britain
and other European states realising their interests overseas. Today,
scores of thousands of Europe’s best soldiers are fighting the
anti-democratic forces of jihadist terror networks from the shores
of Lebanon to the frontier mountains of Pakistan. If Europe wants to
promote democracy in the region, Turkey is an indispensable ally.
Turkey, of course, does much to drive its friends in the west quite
mad. The trials of writers and journalists are an insult to any
notion of democracy. The occupation of northern Cyprus and refusal
to normalise relations with Nicosia is intolerable – but is likely to
last forever if Europe continues to patronise the Turks. However, the
enormous progress in rule of law, freedom of intellectual activity
and the defence of the secular state against illiberal religious
fundamentalism remains an important advance in the struggle to defend
democracy.
Europe cannot rely on its loyalty because Turkey has alternatives. It
can create a Black Sea alliance with Vladimir Putin’s increasingly
authoritarian Russia. It could even forge a coalition with a
nuclear-armed Iran; the neighbours have rarely threatened each other in
the past. There are energy-rich republics to Turkey’s east that share
its language and culture. Islamists in Turkey have long advocated a
rapprochement with Pakistan to create a crescent of influence and power
linking a series of Islamic states governed by strong semi-military
regimes. An independent Turkey, free of ties to the EU, could also
clash with European foreign policy goals by aggressively pursuing
its interests in the Mediterranean or the Middle East.
Turkey’s friends need to lead a diplomatic offensive to ensure the EU
honours its obligations. Leaving Turkey turning on the spit of European
debate – roasted by condescension, ignorance and hostility – will
transform one of Europe’s greatest assets into a source of conflict
and tension. For good or ill Europe is now intervening in a region
full of problems in Iran, Iraq and Israel-Palestine. Making an enemy
of Turkey will make solving any of these problems far more difficult.
Should Turkey’s friends to rally round and prevent it being shut out
of the EU? Denis MacShane will answer your questions in a live Q&A
on Thursday from 11am BST. Post a question now
The writer is Labour MP for Rotherham. He was Britain’s Europe minister
between 2002 and 2005.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress