DOES SARKOZY EVER FEEL LIKE ‘SCUM’ HIMSELF?
Nursun Erel – [email protected]
The New Anatolian
Oct 11 2006
Opinions
There are certain people who make you really fed up and you never
want to see them again. I think French Interior Minister or, as he
dreams, aspiring future French President Nicholas Sarkozy is one of
those for me.
Last time round his remarks on "scum," criticizing protestors of French
immigration policy, ended up in 8,000 cars being set on fire on the
streets of Paris, and I wonder what the price of his statements on
Turkish-French relations will be.
In a way, it’s very easy to understand the logic behind his
attitude. He’s desperately obsessed with being the man of the
moment. Added to which, it contributes a great deal to his popularity
as a politician. So who cares about the biased act of the French
Parliament and government towards Turks? Who cares about why there
was a tragedy once faced by both Turks and Armenians? Who cares about
distorted historical facts almost a century later?
I was talking to number of people yesterday and among them were
some politicians, journalists and even some young people and
housewives. They was also a consensus, which can be outlined as
follows: "Why do Turkish governments always have to behave like
‘good boys’? Will we be battered by Europeans forever? Do they really
believe that Turkey will become a member of the European Union one
day? Do we have to pay such a high price, such as forgoing our pride?"
So most of them seemed eager to break off relations with France. Some
said Turkey should freeze its political relations, disqualify all
French companies from tenders and recall our ambassador from Paris.
They were also agreed on working much harder on history, especially
the massacres carried out by the French in Algeria. According to
them, municipalities were right in their plans to erect monuments
commemorating French massacres from the 20th century.
Of course this will all pass and both sides will consider things more
calmly. But what about the wounds that won’t go away?
So I can’t stop myself from thinking about how dependent the
government’s policies are on some statesmen’s silly acts, even if
they’re simply "scum" themselves.