TO VIMA, Greece
Feb 8 2008

Turkey’s full EU membership is Greece’s interests

Following the example of Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, [former
Greek Prime Minister] Kostas Simitis announced recently that he now
favours a special relationship between Turkey and the European Union
rather than full membership. This has effectively, and without any
warning, completely overturned the policy that he had so pressingly
promoted in the past. It was the policy that led to the improvement
of our relations with Ankara and allowed Cyprus to join the EU as a
member.

Is there any new or urgent development that can explain Simitis’s
sudden change of heart? Turkey still occupies the same geographical
position since the time (in the 1950s) when all the Western countries
invited it to join a number of European organizations, such as NATO,
the OSCE and the Council of Europe. Moreover, the West approved of
the Treaty of Association between the EU and Turkey, which recognized
the latter’s right for full membership and this ultimately led to its
reward in Helsinki.

Turkey’s demography has not changed either. The phenomenon of Turkish
emigrants is nothing new. It is not now that the Turks became Muslim.
When negotiations for membership began, everybody knew about the
Armenian genocide, the invasion of Cyprus, the problems with the
Kurds and the issue of the Aegean. The only thing that has changed
over recent years is that (thanks to a large extent to Europe) Turkey
is now a more democratic country, and at the same one where the
influence of the military has been reduced.

Something, however, has changed in Europe and, mainly, in France.
Sarkozy wanted to secure the votes of the extreme right-wing and the
latter did not want the Turks, whom it described as "Asians with a
foreign religion." Sarkozy managed to win their votes and he has to
thank the extreme right-wing for having played a major role in his
success. To achieve this, however, the French President had to give
in to some of their despicable demands, including measures against
immigrants and introducing so-called "security" measures.

Now that his popularity has begun to plummet, Sarkozy has been given
yet another reason to kick the Turks out of Europe. To a large
extent, the same reasons apply in the case of Merkel. Thus, there is
a need to change our own stance as well. Turkey’s EU membership is a
very difficult objective and demands many years of negotiations and
vast efforts. It will take many more years than the duration of the
political life of either Sarkozy or Merkel. Although this may still
change, negotiations between the EU and Ankara have not been
interrupted despite Ankara’s – allegedly temporary – inability to
move forward with its programme of modernization and democratization,
at least to the desired extent. All the negotiating chapters
currently under discussion do not provide for full membership, while
the remaining chapters are on hold.

It is natural for the Greek side to want to protect its interests,
whether Turkey moves towards full membership or a special
relationship. It should be said, however, that this special
relationship is largely a myth. This relationship already exists and
includes a customs union. In the future it will encompass political
cooperation although, through NATO and the wider network of
cooperation between Western countries, to a large degree such
cooperation already exists. If there is something missing, this is
joint responsibility and the rules of the game for reaching a
consensus, which at the moment can only be found among full EU
members, despite the occasional difficulties. For all the above
reasons, Turkey’s full EU membership is in the interests of Greece.

The Simitis statement gave a boost to many "Turk haters," although
they are the same persons that, until recently, were among his bitter
enemies. Other anti-Simitis groups are trying to detect self-centred
personal motives behind Simitis’s statement, rather than trying to
find the reasons why he changed his mind. If I were in Simitis’s
shoes – and I am not – all the above would have been a source of
concern. I would be even more concerned by the doubts expressed by
all those that, until now, were among the staunchest supporters of
his policies.

[translaed from Greek]