And now the date…

That’s why I describe the relations between Turkey and the European Union to a football match.

With the whistle at the 1999 Helsinki summit, the match started. It was a hard fought match. The Turkish team made substitutions at just the right time and created quite a few chances. The referee had to suffer significant abuse from the stands. EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen and the other commissioners put exhausting pressure on our defense. The first half ended yesterday in Brussels. The EU Commission report was chalked up as the opening goal and the first half ended with Ankara 1-0 ahead.

The second half of the match will be played on Dec. 17 again in Brussels. Then, the opposing side will have different players. The 25 heads of state and government will take their places. The second half also promises to be an end to end match, because there will be many players on the other side committed to eliminate Turkey.

More fouls will be committed in the second half. There might even be some cheating. The referee will be put under a lot of pressure to penalize the Turks. However, there is one thing we should remember. The only thing that matters at the end of the match is the scoreboard. Later on, no one remembers the red cards or the fights. The only thing worth mentioning will be the fact that Turkey is in the finals.

The problem is France
The EU Commission gave the green light, but there is still a chance, albeit a slight one, that the member countries will forget about the past promises they made on Dec. 17.

The main problem lies with the French attitude.

French President Jacques Chirac wants the membership negotiations with Turkey to begin in early 2006, but doesn’t want this decision taken immediately. The reason behind this attitude is the referendum on the EU Constitution that will be held in the autumn of 2005. If the negotiations with Turkey start before the referendum, the results will be jeopardized. The opposition to Chirac will grow. The failure of the EU to agree on a constitution will create more turmoil, compared to a 5-6 delay in the negotiations with Turkey.

Chirac’s attitude is not against Turkey. It is entirely based on domestic political considerations. There is no reason why we should complain about the negotiations starting in late 2005, instead of early or mid 2005. However, if additional conditions are attached to our membership, it will result in an unnecessary increase in tension.

It seems like the second half on Dec. 17 will be very exciting.

‘Support came from Greece’
I wanted to learn about what had happened during the EU Commission meeting on Wednesday and asked those who were there.

Almost all noted that Verheugen’s performance was exemplary. He had met with the leading members of the commission a few days before the meeting and had prepared them for the upcoming debates. He even told them that if the commission were to try to make significant alterations in it, he would fight it all along the way and would withdraw the entire report if necessary. At one point in the meeting, when someone mentioned the matter of recognizing Cyprus and Armenian genocide, he stood up and told them that these were new conditions, noting that Turkey was not notified of them and it would be unfair.

A commission official, who said: "As he entered the meeting, he knew who would say what. He needed to win, because the Turkey report was his. Eventually, he got what he wanted. There was no need for a vote. The report passed with a general agreement," and added that Greece’s attitude throughout the meeting was the most strange.

The same official said: "There weren’t many commission members who supported the start of Turkey’s membership negotiations as sincerely as the Greek commissioner." The official noted that they had created no trouble during the debates and had prevented others, who wanted to use the Cyprus issue as a lever to block the start of the negotiations, to hide behind Athens.

Most of us expected the report to include a condition on Turkey recognizing the Southern Cyprus government. Those who wanted to create trouble were concentrating on this issue. It appears Athens persuaded the Greek Cypriots, because there were no such demands made by them either.

Under current conditions, it appears there is no other opposition at the Dec. 17 summit, apart from France. However, France’s attitude may also change.

In summary, Wednesday was a historic day for Turkey.