Turkey Still Hopeful Of European Dream
It is true that all the countries that were accepted had to conform to the criteria set at the Copenhagen summit, drafted in Denmark on June 21 and 22, 1993. However, Ankara believes that it is being treated differently for two reasons:
First: it is required to implement quasi-literally these criteria before any negotiations, which was not the case with the countries that were accepted.
Second: the Copenhagen criteria include hundreds of details, which are not all implemented even by the founding members. A country like France is still redrafting its legislation to meet the Copenhagen criteria.
However, if observers see no need for all the complications except religion, Turks are well aware that using an Islamic "modern" dress that will help overlook many prohibited things and facilitate dealing with others is not enough for Europeans to overlook this impossible issue that hinders their total membership in the European Union, although many European countries (Western and Eastern) include a significant number of illiterate people, unlike the majority of the Turkish people. We do not mean here to show the ethnic differences between Turks and other people or minimize the importance of some European groups as far as the list of human rights is one for all.
However, one of the reasons that is still obstructing Turkey’s acceptance to the EU is the cultural dimension. Turkey does not belong to the European Christian culture and it is feared that it will become widespread in the EU. Former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who is responsible for drafting the EU constitution, expressed these fears when he said: "Turkey joining the EU means the end of the EU." Pope John Paul II addressed the Union’s countries and called on them "not to forget their religious heritage" when drafting the EU constitution. Moreover, there is a European will to preserve the Christian aspect of the Union’s countries, as Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted when he said: "Muslims are questioning whether the EU wants exclusively to have Christian members, and this has put the Europeans before an ethical challenge."
In addition to Giscard d’Estaing’s statements about the cultural difference between Turkey and Europe and its high population density (70 million) that might lead to demographic and political changes in the continent, the European countries also want to avoid having the Union’s borders reach the Middle East, a hot conflict zone, where their neighbors would be Iran, Iraq and Syria. Some of these countries believe that the bad Turkish economic situation will be a burden on the EU especially after the volume of the Turkish debts has become more than 100 billion dollars. However, the most important question here is: what if the Turkish economy considerably improves and the government carried out the required democratic reforms at the European level and the army withdraws from political life or at least diminishes its power? Will the EU open its doors to Turkey and what will be the latter’s reaction if it feels that all this was nothing but an ephemeral dream?
Regardless of the European stances in the future, the EU cannot ignore Turkey. First, because it is a member of the European Council and NATO and is a strong force with an important position in the Union and the region. Second, because it has abided by the conditions of the Union and was subject to a period of trial, despite the fact that the generals refused the Copenhagen criteria. Turkey will be greatly harmed if the generals succeed in undermining the modern legislation that will put the country in an unstable situation, swaying between East and West, without really belonging to any. There is no doubt that what is happening today in Turkey is not only a fleeting experience at the political level. It involves a number of facts that have occurred as a result of circumstances – internal, accumulative, regional and international – all related to the country’s "identity," which limit is surely not Turkey. What is amazing is that Turkey succeeded in reaching a new situation, whereby the Arabs still fail to preserve the rest of the regional situation, after the weakness they showed at the national level with regards to Iraq.
* Mr. Mardini is a Syrian writer.
