Comment
No way to treat a friend
Europe has just as much to lose as Turkey if the doubters prevail in
the membership battle
Chris Patten
Wednesday October 17, 2007
Guardian
For the third year in a row, Turkey’s annual hurdles on the winding
path of convergence with the EU – a progress report early next month
and the European Council in December – are likely to be bruising.
Doubters will seize on gridlock over Cyprus and a pause in legislative
reform to allege that Turkey is not changing and should be pushed back
outside the EU’s gates. They will point to Ankara’s response to US
efforts to declare the 1915-23 killing of Armenians a genocide, and
the political push for an incursion into northern Iraq to deal with
cross-border terrorist attacks, as evidence that Turkey is not ready
to join the club. So it is worth stepping back and considering why
Europe needs Turkey.
Turkey was critical to Europe in the cold war. For 40 years, it stood
lonely guard on the south-eastern third of Nato’s frontline, paying
the price in military-heavy government and delayed development. There
was little carping about its Muslim identity then, and a cultural
variety that included Turkey was considered a European strength. After
communism’s collapse, Turkey kept contributing to Europe’s security,
giving troops and legitimacy to EU-backed missions in Afghanistan,
Lebanon, the Balkans, and even Congo. If EU-Turkish relations had not
stumbled (for which all sides are responsible), it would likely be
supporting a force for Darfur.
The process of convergence has been strongly in Europe’s interest as
well, especially the golden period between 1999 and 2005: wide-ranging
reforms fashioned a more European political system; peace and
cooperation replaced friction with Greece; annual economic growth of
7.5% benefited European companies; Turkey’s new trust in the EU
brought a turnaround on Cyprus that nearly solved the problem; and
basic freedoms of religion and expression improved. The EU won
credibility as a fair-minded player in the Muslim world.
But the sum of these many parts is not seen by European publics and
politicians, consumed by doubts about enlargement, immigration and
their own economic security. Election campaigns – notably those of
Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel – featured a demeaning of the
Turkish "other" and proposals that Europe drop its promise of
membership. Conservative EU politicians admit privately that Turkey is
more benefit than threat, but that to say so out loud would be
political suicide.
Fears about instant membership are misplaced. Nobody suggests Turkey
will be ready for a decade or more. Incomes are less than half the EU
average, and EU norms are far from implemented. Accession will be
imminent only when the stiffest conditions applied to any candidate
are fulfilled (and every EU state will still have a veto). Indeed,
depending on how the EU develops, Turkey may have second thoughts.
Most important for both the EU and Turkey is to relaunch the process
of convergence that has brought so much benefit to both sides. Turkish
voters have shown their faith in this process, returning the
pro-reform AK party to power. It has gone straight back to work,
tackling in an open spirit one of the key problems in Turkey’s
democratisation: the 1982 military-era constitution.
As EU leaders prepare for the annual debate over how much reform
Turkey has done and how much it should do, they should do all they can
to renew Turkey’s trust in the EU. The cost of restoring the
motivational goal of membership is not high, and the reward great.
Turkey is not fundamentally different to Greece, Spain and Portugal,
where EU leaps of faith were essential to a transition from military
authoritarianism to stability and democracy.
· Lord Patten, the former European commissioner for external
relations, is chairman of the board of the International Crisis Group
Crisisgroup.org
Source: ,,2192584 ,00.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress