WILL SARKOZY CHANGE HIS STANCE?

Sami Kohen

Turkish Press
June 30 2008

MILLIYET- I wonder if French President Nicolas Sarkozy will learn the
necessary lesson from the French Senate’s rejection of a constitutional
amendment stipulating a referendum for Turkey’s European Union
membership. Indeed, the Senate’s 297-7 rejection of the measure is
a heavy blow to Sarkozy, because this overwhelming majority came not
just from opposition parties, but also Sarkozy’s own UMP. In addition,
the government sensed the atmosphere in the Senate and gave up on the
proposal. In other words, it finally changed its mind. This situation
shows that the UMP is divided on the issue. Now lower house deputies
and senators from the same party are against each other! Following the
vote, how will the lower house act in re-debating the measure? Which
party will prevail in the joint session of the Senate and lower
house? We’ll see on July 21. The speeches in the Senate, some by
UMP members, showed that this measure (which clearly targets Turkey)
is very separatist, hypocritical, improper and insulting – in their
own words.

Actually the aim of the article requiring a referendum is very
clear: hindering Turkey’s EU membership, in other words, even if our
membership talks continue, and eventually closing the EU’s doors to
Turkey. This is the only thing that Sarkozy wants, right? This is
clearly the stance that he has repeatedly shown. But why?

An article published recently in Liberation daily explored this
question. According to the piece, it’s hard to understand why he
‘frittered away’ France’s friendship with Turkey, after it took France
as an example and the two enjoyed close relations. Actually, France
should be championing Turkey’s efforts to integrate with Europe. But
Sarkozy’s acts turned a friendly country into an ‘enemy.’ The article
disapproved of the justifications for this. For example, it says that
the fact that Turkey is a majority-Muslim country can’t be a reason,
because it’s also a secular country which is trying hard to maintain
its secular character. After listing similar irrational reasons,
the piece concludes as follows: No matter its justifications, with
this stance France is harming itself.

In fact, this stance should be evaluated as part of France’s
anti-Turkish policies of recent years. In other words, what really
matters is how much France values Turkey. It would be also useful
to remember how things were under Francois Mitterrand and Jacques
Chirac. At that time, France wanted political and economic ties with
Turkey to go smoothly, but didn’t take seriously Turkey’s sensitivity
on certain national matters (for example, the Cyprus, Armenian and
Kurdish issues) and didn’t shrink from actions which might disturb
Turkey. Today, while striving to create rapprochement with many
countries in the Middle East, Sarkozy is maintaining a stance which
drives Turkey away from France. In the wake of the Senate vote, will
Sarkozy change course due to public pressure and criticisms from his
own party? I hope he will, but people close to him generally call
him a self-confident, stubborn politician.