Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Sept 13 2009
Friends of Turkey
Sunday, September 13, 2009
JOOST LAGENDÄ°JK
There is always this moment during debates on Turkey-EU
relations. After exchanging opinions and discussing different
scenarios, a Turkish participant takes the floor and sighs heavily.
`I admire your optimism Mr. Lagendijk, but most Europeans do not share
your views. You know, we know, in the end the Europeans don’t want
us.’
It is the modern version of the famous phrase reflecting the
self-image of Turks for centuries: `Turkey has no friends.’
Here is the news: Turkey has friends in Europe and they are very
active in promoting Turkey’s membership of the EU. Their names: Martti
Ahtisaari, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2008; Michel Rocard, former
Prime Minister of France; Anthony Giddens, one of the leading global
intellectuals. Plus several former European commissioners and foreign
ministers. They call themselves the Independent Commission on
Turkey. This week they published a report called `Turkey in Europe:
Breaking the vicious circle.’ Members of the commission toured several
capitals to make Turkey’s case. Acting as ambassadors for Turkey on a
voluntary basis.
I would really like to recommend all skeptical Turks to read this
report (also in Turkish on ). It
touches on many of the issues that always pop up in reports on Turkey
and the EU. But compared to the reports of the European Commission
there are important differences.
Being out of office Ahtisaari and his colleagues can be much more
outspoken on some of the hot topics. Let me give you some
examples. They do not think the secular system in Turkey is in
danger. Although they criticize AKP leaders for not being sensitive
enough to legitimate anxieties of secularist they clearly state their
conviction that secularism is a well-founded pillar of the Republic
that only a small minority in Turkey would like to remove.
The European Friends of Turkey strongly support normalization of
relations between Turkey and Armenia. At the same time they also speak
out clearly against so-called `genocide recognition resolutions’ in
national parliaments calling them counter-productive. They are very
positive on the efforts of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davatoglu to
eliminate all problems with Turkey’s neighbors. Together with further
democratic reforms, the report states, `The example of its (Turkey’s)
transformation has acted to project the soft power of core EU values
eastward.’ I can’t remember having read such outspoken support for the
idea that Turkey would be a great asset to the EU.
The main difference with the reports coming from the EU institutions
though is the harsh criticism in the first chapter of the report on
some EU member states and their handling of the accession
negotiations. Let me quote a key sentence: `Undermining these talks in
advance by substituting alternative arrangements for the goal of
membership constitutes a breach of faith with Turkey, stokes up a
nationalist backlash in the country and creates the wider impression
that the EU has discriminatory double standards when dealing with a
Muslim country.’
These are the words of some of Europe’s best-connected and therefore
most influential politicians. Yes, it is true, they are no longer in
power. But their message got huge media coverage and, believe me, does
have an impact on the debate on Turkey in Europe.
In Turkey, media and politicians tend to focus on antagonistic
messages from Europe and to disregard the considerable support for
Turkey’s EU membership in many European countries. I hope this report
will convince Turks that they have powerful friends in Europe too.
* Mr. Joost Lagendijk is a columnist for the daily Radikal and a
senior advisor for the Istanbul Policy Center.