Is There any Strategy in Boycotting France?
By IBRAHIM OZTURK
Zaman, Turkey
Oct 20 2006
10.20.2006 Friday – ISTANBUL 22:36
As a nation, our judgment is easily clouded. It’s our Achilles heel
to win the hard way but lose easily. We still haven’t learned how
to solve possible crises by adopting long-term strategies or using
intelligence and know-how.
A fine example of this phenomenon is the French controversy, perfectly
timed just before the EU progress report on Turkey is released. It is
as if the French wanted to seek help from Turkish sentiments that can
lose control and direction easily. While France and other like-minded
countries try to provoke us, so to speak, there are "customers" who
are ready to buy this turmoil at home because their interests fit
snugly into each other. I insist that the Algerian genocide should
not be used to extract vengeance against France. This would burn
bridges, whereas our duty is to build foundations and bridges for
better dialogue and understanding.
The tension we experienced because of Italy’s stance on the PKK and
the street protests it triggered are still fresh in our memory. But
remember Italy’s full support for us to obtain an exact date for EU
full membership negotiations. International relations are determined
neither by love nor by hatred, but by national interests guided by
common sense. Can’t you see that today Japan and America are like
identical twins, despite the two atomic bombs America dropped on its
present-day ally? While discussing today’s matters, we should not ruin
future relations. In fact, France does not prefer Armenia, a country
of five million poor people, over Turkey with this action. As is well
known, Europe has had this France problem for quite some time. It is
the same country that opposed Britain’s full EU membership in the past,
and that also rejects the current EU constitution. This notorious
country is now trying to use Turkey as a scapegoat for its problems
with the EU. What Turkey has to do is try to avoid being part of the
problem, with little patience and sound strategy.
The other side of the equation is our homemade problems. Those who,
until recently, had been tormenting people in order to impose
European values on them are now pretending to be against the
European Union. Since they are in search of a strategy to change
course smoothly, they acted hastily in finding similarities between
France’s attitude and the present EU situation. Take a guess: What
is the religion of our old aunt who yelled, "Religion is becoming
lost?" As always, one of the most legal grounds is Ataturk. He said,
"We have to reach the level of contemporary civilizations, not the
European level." He meant rationalism, didn’t he? But how can all
this be combined with economic and political unity?
Let’s not digress; I do support boycotting French products. But mine is
a well-founded embargo. If a foreign product has a Turkish equivalent
with the same quality, and if it can withstand the price competition, I
would prefer the homegrown products. A stance and preference spreading
across all parts of life with national consciousness is essential, not
feelings that are set ablaze with tensions and then burnt away. For
instance, rescuing the present volatile campaign launched against
France from its narrow bounds and turning it into a campaign using
homegrown products would be the most viable long-term strategy. On
the other hand, punishing French capital that is assisting successful
investments in our country, contributing to production and employment
by launching a boycott, will amount to sawing away at the branch
we are sitting on. Instead, not buying imported French products and
brands would be the best way to boost the boycott spirit.
France may risk losing Turkey in an economic sense because Turkey is
as good as a pill to cure an earthquake as far as French imports and
exports are concerned. That would not move a leaf in France. However,
France is our fifth-largest trading partner. More importantly,
it seems as if similar things will occur with other countries,
whether they’re EU members or non-EU members. Almost 70 percent of
Turkey’s foreign trade is with European countries. We should reduce
our dependence on Europe by expanding to new horizons, discovering
new abilities and developing new long-term strategies. Furthermore,
to increase our bargaining power we should be able to create other
power sources. Otherwise any action taken by us would seem ridiculous.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
