NO CLEAR CHOICE FOR FRENCH TURKS FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
Emre DemÝr Strasbourg

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 25 2007

With France’s first round of presidential elections having coming to a
close, leaving UMP candidate Nikolas Sarkozy up against Socialist Party
candidate Segolene Royal, Turks residing in France find themselves
facing a tough election choice May 6.

Sarkozy’s stance against immigrants and his opposition to Turkish EU
membership combined with Royal’s Socialist Party’s promise to bring
the so-called Armenian genocide bill to life have put French Turks
in a position of indecision.

Most ethnically Turkish politicians and civil society leaders who spoke
with Today’s Zaman on the topic of France’s presidential elections do,
however, underline their belief that support in the second round of
the French elections, scheduled to take place May 6, should go to
Socialist Party candidate Royal.

Deputy Mayor and UMP member Elise Apaydýn Sapci, however, is somewhat
optimistic about the UMP candidate.

"Sarkozy is pragmatic; he will soften his stance against Turkey. If
we think like a French citizen, we can see that Sarkozy’s policies
of reform in the economic arena deserve support. But Sarkozy is also
known for his tough stance toward foreigners in France. If we look
from the perspective of our ethnically Turkish voters, it appears,
for example, that marriages from Turkey will become more difficult
in France. It appears that Turks will favor Socialist Party candidate
Royal, who has softer attitudes toward immigrants. But let’s not forget
that Sarkozy is a pragmatic politician. After being elected president,
I believe he will soften his stance on the immigrant problem and to
his general stance on Turkey. If Sarkozy were to perceive possible
damage to Turkish-French economic relations, he would, keeping France’s
interests in mind, take another look at his stance toward Turkey."

Erdoðan Eser, president of the French Industrialists and Entrepreneurs
Movement (MEDIF), was less optimistic. "In terms of the choices facing
French Turks, these are the most difficult presidential elections. I
wish that Francois Bayrou, the UDF leader favored by many in the
Turkish community here, had been able to remain in the race. Now
we are damned if we do, and damned if we don’t. The right-wing
UMP Party is using anti-immigrant politics to get the vote of the
extreme right, while the left-wing Socialist Party has invested in the
so-called Armenian genocide bill to gain votes. The choice for us is
difficult. In any case, I am seeing now that it will most likely be
Sarkozy who is elected president in the second round. But Turks need
to give particular support in the coming months to the left during
elections for MPs. If the Socialist Party gains enough of a majority
to form a government, there will be steps taken to soften Sarkozy’s
anti-immigrant stance."

Erdem Taþpýnar, director of the Turkish association ASTTU, however,
said that despite opinion trends French Turks must not give their
votes to Sarkozy.

"Actually, it is very clear who the Turks must vote for in the second
round. To be more specific, it is completely obvious that votes must
not be given to Sarkozy. We think that all Turks and all immigrants
need to vote for Royal in the second round. Sarkozy’s stance against
foreigners in France and his policies, which would limit immigrant
rights, are worrisome. We, as ASTTU, carried out research on Sarkozy’s
immigrant policies. In particular, we believe that the 2005 immigrant
bill, which made family unifications from Turkey to France even more
difficult, will only become tougher."

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