HISTORY ENSURES AUSTRIANS REMAIN BITTERLY OPPOSED
by Stephen Castle
The Independent
October 3, 2005
Across Europe, opinion may be divided on whether Turkey should be
allowed to enter the EU. But in Austria there is little sign of a
debate because history ensures that the issue touches the rawest
of nerves.
In 1683 the Ottoman army of Kara Mustafa Pasha was routed at the
gates of Vienna in a defeat that marked the last Turkish effort to
take the city. All around the Austrian capital are reminders of the
battle and so strong is the event in the national consciousness that
newspapers have characterised Ankara’s EU bid as a new siege of Vienna.
To complicate matters further Austria is a strong supporter of
(Christian) Croatia, which also wants to join the EU. This step has
been held up because of a row over Zagreb’s lack of co-operation in
surrendering a suspected war criminal, Ante Gotovina.
Austrians feel it would be wrong to start talking to Turkey while
holding back on Croatia. Vienna’s critics suggest darkly that Austria’s
own past may prompt it to worry less about punishing war crimes than
other nations.
Taking a tough stance has proved politically popular for the Austrian
Chancellor, Wolfgang Schnssel, but his party was crushed in regional
elections yesterday.
Elsewhere in Europe, the echoes of history have played a part in the
debate. France, home to Europe’s largest Armenian population, has
sometimes had difficult relations with Turkey. In 2001 its parliament
formally recognised the Armenian genocide (during the collapse of
the Ottoman empire) provoking fury from Ankara.
Ironically Ankara’s biggest rival, Greece, has not sought to hold up
talks, believing that a Turkey inside the EU would be more modern,
restrained and susceptible to outside influence.