Hugh Pope: Apologist for Turkey
By Gene Rossides
Hellenic News of America, PA
Jan 3 2007
Hugh Pope, the author of Sons of the Conquerors: The Rise of the
Turkic World (2005), wrote a length article which appeared in the
November 28, 2006 edition of the Wall Street Journal.
The article, titled "The West’s Eastern Front" is a blatant piece of
propaganda that, in effect, supports Turkey’s entry into the European
Union (EU) without having to meet the EU’s conditions for admission
that all other members have had to meet. The article is also riddled
with mis-statements and serious omissions of issues and facts.
Mr. Pope refers to the issue of access to Turkish ports and airports
by Cypriot ships and planes as a "conveniently distracting issue" and
omits to mention that Turkey had signed the Ankara Protocol to allow
such access in order to get the EU to allow accession negotiations
to begin.
With Pope Benedict about to visit Turkey on the eve of his article,
Hugh Pope states that "it’s worth thinking again about who the Turks
are, what they want, and how helpful to Europe their practice of
Islam really is."
Mr. Pope then sets forth his arguments as to why the Turks should be
admitted to the EU without any discussion of the extensive requirements
that Turkey must meet, including the settlement of the Cyprus problem
and Turkey’s outrageous claims to one-half of the Aegean.
Mr. Pope goes to great lengths in arguing that, in effect, the Turks
are Europeans. First, he made the outrageous statement that "No clear
answer exists, of course, to the question of whether the Turks are
Europeans. There are just too many subjective variables."
Then he actually states that "one must note that the Turks are already
much more European than the Europeans realize." This is historical
nonsense. He equates Turkey’s relations with Europe and the EU as
somehow making them Europeans.
He writes: "Arguments that Turks are somehow ethnically Asiatic and
non-European also hold little water." He’s clearly wrong and his
next sentence proves that he is wrong. He states: "Yes, the original
Turkish tribes and dynasties like Seljuks and the Ottomans came from
Central Asia."
He then tries to argue that that was long ago and that because they
want to enter the EU and be a part of Western culture, they are, in
effect, Europeans. He also asserts that "Western Turkey, at least,
is not much different from other Eastern European members of the
European Union, where Bulgars, Finns and Hungarians also have origins
in the eastern Steppe."
The fact that Turks are basically and fundamentally Asians, does not
bar Turkey’s admission to the EU. What Turkey must do is meet fully
the EU’s criteria for accession, namely the acquis communaitaire
and fundamental democratic norms, including purging itself of its
aggression in Cyprus and occupation of 37.3 percent of Cyprus, now
entering the 33rd year.
"Purge" is the word used by former Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance,
and George Ball in their joint testimony in Congress on July 10,
1975 opposing legislation, initiated by then Secretary of State,
Henry Kissinger, to lift the rule of law embargo on arms to Turkey.
Turkey and its advocates like Mr. Hugh Pope need to stop trying
to alter the conditions for admission and stop accusing the EU of
discrimination. Turkey and other non-EU members have no legal or other
"right" to admission to the EU.
It comes with ill-grace when Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, accuses the EU of being a Christian club and discriminatory
against Turkey, while denying Turkey’s responsibility for killing
two million Christians in the 20th century — the Armenian Genocide,
the Pontian Genocide, the Assyrian Genocide, and the slaughter of
the Armenians and Greeks of Smyrna.
Hugh Pope falsely states that "Turkey started its acrobatic effort
to assimilate European culture in the early 19th century Ottoman
Empire." Tell that to the Greeks who valiantly struggled for their
independence in the early 19th century.
Then he incredibly states: "In the 1920’s, the present Turkish Republic
took Europe as its model for almost everything, since back then,
Europe equaled modern progress."
Is Mr. Pope not aware that in the 1920’s Turkey, under Ataturk,
continued its Armenian Genocide campaign which started in 1915 under
the Young Turks, with the slaughter of innocent Armenian and Greek
civilians in Smyrna and the burning of Smyrna, all under the direct
orders of Ataturk?
Is Mr. Pope not aware that Ataturk was the dictator of Turkey until
his death in 1938?
The EU must stick to its principles and insist that Turkey meet all
the conditions for entry to the EU. Foremost among these conditions
should be the purging by Turkey of its invasion of and occupation in
Cyprus, and that means compliance with unanimous UN General Assembly
Resolution 3212 of November 1, 1974 endorsed by the Security Council
on December 13, 1974 (SC Res. 365), which calls for the removal all
of its troops from Cyprus and that all the refugees should return to
their homes in safety.
There are an estimated 120,000 illegal Turkish settlers from Turkey
in violation of the Geneva Convention of 1949. Their return to Turkey
should be required by the EU.
Turkey should also be required to tear down the infamous Turkish
barbed wire fence across the face of Cyprus, which together with
Turkey’s armed occupation forces and the Turkish administration of
Cyprus are the cause of the Turkish Cypriot isolation.
Britain and the U.S., Turkey’s main supporters for admission to the EU,
should forcefully urge Turkey to advance its prospects for admission
to the EU by taking the above actions regarding Cyprus.
If any reader wants to help, he or she should write to President
Bush and call the White House comment line at (202) 456-1111 and urge
President Bush to tell Turkey to get out of Cyprus.
Readers should also call at (202)647-9752 and write to Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice with the same message. Gene Rossides is
President of the American Hellenic Institute and former Assistant
Secretary of the U. S. Treasury
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