TURKEY UNEASY OVER SARKOZY WIN, BUT HOPES FOR PRAGMATISM
by Florence Biedermann

Agence France Presse — English
May 7, 2007 Monday

Nicolas Sarkozy’s election victory gives Turkey another reason to
worry about its EU bid, but many here believe that once the new French
president takes office, his pragmatism will outweigh his hostility
to Ankara’s membership.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced hopes Monday that the French
leader would soften his position on Turkey’s European aspirations.

"We hope we will not see in our bilateral relations from now on the
same attitudes that Sarkozy displayed during his election campaign
regarding our European Union (accession) process and Turkish-French
ties," Erdogan said.

Sarkozy is staunchly opposed to Turkey joining the 27-member bloc,
arguing that most of Turkey’s territory is in Asia and that the idea
of a united Europe would be diluted if its borders stretch that far.

He instead advocates a "privileged partnership" between the EU and
Turkey rather than full membership for the sizeable mainly Muslim
nation.

Political commentator Dogu Ergil suggested Sarkozy could follow the
example of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was also opposed to
Turkey’s accession, but said she would abide by existing agreements
between Ankara and Brussels once she took office in 2005.

Sarkozy had displayed a "certain opportunism in addressing the
worries and fears of French voters," Ergil said. "But once elected,
politicians become statesmen and can no longer be personal."

The mass-selling Milliyet newspaper echoed the same hope.

Sarkozy’s election "will increase the potential of already chilly
Turkish-French ties to worsen… But it is not impossible for Sarkozy,
who is more of a pragmatic politician than an ideologue, to change
his stance once he becomes president."

Questioned as to the possible impact of Sarkozy’s election, European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso indicated no change in the
EU’s negotiations with Ankara.

"We negotiate with Turkey on the basis of a mandate that was decided
unanimously… We recommend to member states only to take a decision
on whether or not Turkey should join based on the results of these
negotiations," Barroso said.

But some Turkish analysts remain pessimistic.

"The conditions that were applied to the central European countries
are no longer working with Turkey… Sarkozy’s election marks the
arrival of the moment of truth when this de facto situation will
transform into a legal one," EU expert Cengiz Aktar said.

"Turkey’s accession talks appear to be going on but the process
risks to halt officially in 2009 with the campaign for the European
Parliament elections," he said, adding that Sarkozy "will be probably
the one to hammer the last nail into the coffin of Turkish-EU
relations."

In December, the EU froze talks with Turkey in eight of the 35 policy
areas that candidates are required to complete, over Ankara’s rejection
to grant trade priviliges to arch-rival Cyprus.

Turkey has managed to open only two chapters since it won the green
light for talks in October 2005. It cannot formally close any chapter
until the Cyprus dispute is resolved.

Foreign affairs expert Semih Idiz described Sarkozy as a "coarse
representation of the basic fears and concerns of the French people"
on issues such as the integration of Muslims and immigrants as well
as Turkey’s eventual EU membership.

"The rise of a Muslim-populated country and the possibility of it
having an equal say with France in the EU cannot be easy to swallow
for ‘sugar-coated crypto-fascists’," he wrote in Milliyet.

Turkish-French ties have also been poisoned by France’s recognition
of the massacre of Armenians between 1915 and 1918 in the dying days
of the Ottoman Empire as an act of genocide.

According to the Turkish press, Sarkozy also said that if he was
elected president, he would sign into law a bill, passed in the
National Assembly in October, that makes it a jailable offense to
deny the killings were genocide — a label Ankara fiercely rejects.