HOW HAS THE WEST ALIENATED THE TURKS?
View By Sahin Alpay
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
March 12 2007
There has been a sharp decline in support in Turkish public opinion
for the country’s European Union membership. Some surveys say only
about a third of the population is still positive toward the prospect
of joining the union. Furthermore, the US has never been as unpopular
in Turkey as it is today, with some surveys indicating that only about
one in 10 people have any sympathy for the country. On these grounds
much is currently being said and written about Turkey’s moving away
from the West. The truth, however, is the other way around: It is
the West that has moved away from Turkey. Let us begin with the EU.
In December 1999 the EU declared Turkey a "Candidate State destined
to join the EU on the basis of the same criteria as applied to
other Candidate States." It was announced in December 2004 that the
negotiation process was "an open-ended process, the outcome of which
cannot be guaranteed beforehand," meaning there was no commitment
on the part of the EU to accept Turkey. Even if the negotiations
were to be concluded successfully the EU would have to consider
its "absorption capacity" and reserved the right to stipulate "long
transitional periods, derogations, specific arrangements or permanent
safeguard clauses." Leading German, French and Austrian politicians
started offering Turkey "privileged partnership" instead of full
membership. France and Austria adopted legislation to subject future
EU member states to approval by referanda to make sure the doors were
closed to Turkey.
Greek Cyprus, whose government, contrary to its commitments to
work for a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem, actively
campaigned against the plan of former UN General-Secretary Kofi
Annan, has joined the union while the Turkish Cypriots, who strongly
embraced the Annan plan, were left out. While the EU has supported
the Annan plan, implicitly recognizing the existence of two different
peoples on Cyprus, it regards the Greek government as the sole legal
representative of the whole island. The Greek Cypriot government
is using its EU membership as a leverage for a return to pre-1974
conditions.
The European Court of Human Rights, the judgments of which form part of
the EU Acquis Communitaire, has endorsed the headscarf ban in Turkish
universities. The European Commission has never referred to this ban
as a violation of religious rights in Turkey. The European Parliament
has called for the recognition by Turkey of the "Armenian genocide"
and of other "genocides" committed by the Ottoman State.
Certain European politicians have even demanded recognition of the
"Armenian genocide" be set as a precondition for Turkish membership
in the EU.
The widespread identification of Islam with terrorism, and the rising
tide of Islamophobia in the West in the aftermath of Sept. 11, is
certainly not welcome among the Turks. The publishing of denigrating
cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe and
the references by Pope Benedict XVI to Islam as "inhuman and evil"
have also helped spread the image of the EU as a "Christian Club"
where Turkey is not wanted.
The administration of US President George W. Bush has also done its
best to alienate Turkish public opinion. The invasion of Iraq with no
legitimate justification has turned Turkey’s neighboring country into
a hotbed of terrorism and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of
innocent Muslims. The Bush administration has unconditionally supported
Israel’s occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people. It talks
about a "war on terrorism," but does nothing to stop the terrorists of
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from using northern Iraq as a base
to attack Turkey. The chaos in Iraq seriously threatens stability here.
Widespread disappointment with the EU and indignation against the
US can surely not be explained by the "Islamist fundamentalist"
government’s conspiring to move Turkey away from the West or by the
rising tide of Turkish nationalism. Just three years ago over 70
percent of Turks surveyed were in favor of EU membership. During the
presidency of Bill Clinton the US ranked among the most popular foreign
nations. (It is thus certainly not anti-Americanism, but anti-Bushism
which is rampant in Turkey today.) Resentment against the West is
certainly being exploited by ultranationalist groups, who are far from
representing the mainstream, but that resentment is certainly shared
by the great majority and is spread across the full political spectrum.
Does all this mean Turkey is likely to change its Western
orientation? That is the topic of another column.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
