The Irish Times
February 16, 2008 Saturday
EU will be making a terrible mistake by turning away Turkey
Opinion; Pg. 15
Europe will throw away a vital opportunity to improve ties with Islam
if Sarkozy and Merkel get their way, Lara Marlowe writes
A war of words between the Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and the German chancellor Angela Merkel this week showed how
seriously Turkey’s relations with Europe have deteriorated.
"I repeat: assimilation is a crime against humanity," Erdogan told
the Turkish parliament on February 12th. He enraged Merkel by saying
the same thing to 20,000 Turks in Cologne two days earlier, at a
rally for nine Turks who died in a fire in the German town of
Ludwigshafen. Turkish media claim they were the victims of a racist
crime.
Merkel questioned Erdogan’s "understanding of integration" which she
says requires "a willingness to adapt to a country’s lifestyle".
The tiff with Germany over the integration of 2.7 million Turks comes
as Erdogan’s government has quietly shelved efforts to pursue the
country’s EU application. Rhetoric from the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) is increasingly nationalistic.
There is plenty of blame to go around, but the main cause of the
chill in EU-Turkish relations has been the rise to power of Merkel in
Germany and President Nicolas Sarkozy in France, both of whom are
categorically opposed to Turkish accession.
EU countries which support Turkey’s application – Ireland, Britain,
Sweden, Spain – have watched passively as the Franco-German duo snuff
out Turkish hopes. Turkey has been trying to join the EU for nearly
half a century, but no one has explained to EU citizens what a huge
contribution Turkey could make to the union. When the door is finally
slammed in Turkey’s face, alienating 71 million of the world’s most
prosperous, educated and progressive Muslims, it will be too late to
cry over lost opportunities.
The most stubborn and strong-willed prevail in Europe, and Sarkozy
has been allowed to set the agenda for negotiations with Turkey.
"Turkey, which is not a European country, has no place within the
European Union," he said last year.
Sarkozy decided to close five chapters of accession negotiations last
summer, on the grounds that subjects like monetary union pre-suppose
full membership. He dictated his terms for allowing two new chapters
to be opened in December.
Sarkozy frequently evokes Europe’s "Christian roots", but he forgets
that Christianity started in the Middle East, not Europe. There was a
substantial Christian community in Ephesus, Turkey, in the first
century after Christ, when Europe was still populated by Barbarians.
Saint Basil established the monastery system in Cappadocia, Turkey,
between the 7th and 12th centuries.
Sarkozy and Merkel talk of a "privileged partnership" instead of full
membership for Turkey. But Turkey already benefits from just such a
partnership under the 1963 Ankara accord and the customs union of
1996. The Turks cannot be blamed for rejecting this attempt to fob
them off with second-class membership.
The two most obvious arguments against Turkey often go unstated
because they are politically incorrect. They are 1: Turkey is just
too big, and 2: Turkey is Muslim. It is the combination that scares
Europeans. Tiny Muslim Bosnia will probably be admitted to the EU.
But both arguments can be turned to Turkey’s advantage. True, Turkey
would eventually surpass Germany as the largest EU country. But the
EU needs a young labour force to support its ageing population. If it
wants to form a defence force, it needs soldiers. There are tensions
within Turkey between secularists and Islamists, in particular over
the new law allowing university students to wear the Islamic
headscarf. But the presence of a vociferous secular minority is a
guarantee that Turkey will not become a theocracy.
The AKP is trying to prove that Islam, democracy and modernity are
compatible. By accepting Muslim Turkey in the European club, EU
leaders would improve relations with their own Muslim minorities and
show the world that the "Clash of Civilisations" is not inevitable,
despite the US disaster in Iraq.
Turkish people define as European their desire to live in a consumer
society that enjoys social justice and the rule of law. But there is
deep frustration and a growing conviction that the EU keeps adding
new criteria, that the entrance exam is skewed. Due to hurt pride,
the number of Turks wanting to join the EU, like the number of
Europeans who want to let them in, is falling.
For two weeks in December, France fought to keep the words
"accession" and "membership" out of a statement on the EU’s
enlargement strategy. Paris won, over objections from Britain and
Sweden.
Now Turkish pessimists predict that Sarkozy will bury Turkey’s EU
application once and for all during the French presidency in the
second half of this year.
Optimists argue that Sarkozy will leave office in 2012 or 2017, that
the pendulum could yet swing back in Turkey’s favour.
Neither prospect is happy. If Sarkozy manages to sabotage nearly half
a century of Turkish efforts to join Europe, the message conveyed to
the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims will be disastrous. Allowing the
Turkish application to die a slow death is not much better.
"It is now possible to imagine Turkey becoming the first country to
begin accession negotations but ultimately failing to join," writes
Bulent Aliriza, the director of the Turkey project at the Centre for
Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Turkey should be required to fulfil the same criteria as other new
members of the EU; not more. It is not acceptable, after leading
Turkey on for 45 years, to say: "We never should have let you apply."
There must be a European leader who is willing to stand up to Sarkozy
and Merkel, to remind them that they are bound by their predecessors’
decisions to give Turkey a fair crack at accession.
On the Turkish side too, much could be done. The flourishing economy
that is Ankara’s best argument looks likely to continue. But Turkey’s
leaders are so discouraged about the accession process that they have
stopped trying. They can call the bluff of European detractors by
resuming the reform process.
In particular, the government needs to ensure that changes in human
rights legislation are enforced – that the infamous article 301 which
makes "insulting Turkishness" a crime is abrograted, not merely
amended. The country needs to examine what happened to the Armenians
in 1915 in a sober, reasoned manner.
Erdogan has made progress in treatment of the Kurdish minority, but
more remains to be done. The Cypriot issue could be resolved if
Ankara encourages a settlement between the Turkish north and the
Greek south within a European framework.
Last but not least, Turkey needs to state its case more effectively
in a sustained public relations offensive at home and in Europe,
especially in France and Germany. It is tempting to avoid those who
treat you badly. But these are the people Turkey most needs to
convince.
Lara Marlowe reported from Turkey for the "Inside Turkey" series of
articles in The Irish Times in October 2007