Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
Oct 19 2007

No way to treat a friend
BY CHRIS PATTEN

19 October 2007

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 per cent 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.

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