EU, enough is enough

As expected, a storm is brewing in Brussels, the capital of the European Union.
Term president Holland faces an impossible task.

On the night of Dec. 16, the heads of state and government of 25 EU member countries will gather around a dinner table and debate the answer they will give to Turkey. If each one says something different, great confusion will reign over the proceedings. That’s why Holland is trying to prepare a joint statement. In other words, it is trying to formulate a paper that would be found agreeable to most member countries.
That’s the reason behind all this hoopla. Almost all members have a point to settle with Turkey. They all are trying to collect on old debts at this important point in time.

The Greek Cypriots are trying win over the whole of Cyprus.
The Greeks are trying to win over the Aegean Sea.
France is trying to delay the whole proceeding and will do everything it can to ensure the full membership aim of the negotiations will be as confused as possible.
Germany is trying erect barriers against Turkish workers.
Scandinavians are mainly concerned about the Kurds.
Some don’t want to lose the option of keeping Turkey out of the union. A great confusion reigns over everything, and intense negotiations are going on.

In the past, such negotiations used to take place between nine, or, in the recent past, between 15 members. It was comparably easier. Now there are 25 members, and this is the first time they will meet to agree on something. Everything is a blur.
Holland is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Thank God the negotiations are being handled by an experienced prime minister and Foreign Ministry team with a sense of responsibility. If this hadn’t been the case, Ankara could have been tossed around.
The negotiations between the 25 governments will last until the night of Dec. 16. If there is a consensus at the end, everything will be good. If not, and if everything is left to be settled at the dinner table on Dec. 16, things could get out of hand.

EU playing a dangerous game

The 25 EU member states are playing a dangerous game with Turkey.
I accept the fact that it is Turkey who wants to enter this club. It is not the EU that wants to enter Turkey’s club. However, the things are getting so much out of hand that we get the impression they are trying to get a rise out of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Some believe they are trying to stir up the tough guy in Erdogan, who will just slam the door in the EU’s face.
Some in Brussels think that Turkey has no other option and will have to accept any demand put in front of it.
There could be no greater error.

The ambassadors of the EU countries should start ringing the alarm bells in their capitals as a warning. Erdogan comes from Kasimpasa in Istanbul, which is a very tough neighborhood. As a leader, he doesn’t shrink from showing his tough side. The number of commentators in the media known for their support for the EU who have started to say enough is enough is increasing every day.

We are not a people who have the calm and collected nature of the British, the Germans or the Scandinavians. There have been a lot of instances where we threw the bathwater out with the baby. Such reactions may not have any rational basis. We can break off relations very easily. We may regret it tomorrow, but when our patience runs out we’ll be out for revenge.
EU officials may not be aware, but this is where they are pushing the Turkish people. Erdogan knows this and that’s why he’s nervous. His Kasimpasa soul can’t take much more.

This is what I warned all the EU officials I talked to in Brussels about. They really need to take this warning seriously. They should all know this is not just a simple bargaining game.
If they want to get on Turkey’s nerves, the EU should continue to follow the same road. But, they should not regret what they did later.

Those who follow my column know how important Turkey’s relations with the EU are for me. They should also realize Turkey has the right to reject any negotiation process that doesn’t lead to full membership.
I would like to remind the 25 EU ambassadors in Ankara and the commission and council officials in Brussels, who I know follow this column, of these facts before it’s too late. They are now playing with fire, and there will be no winners in such a game.
Maybe they don’t know what the Turkish people are like, but the patience of the nation is running out.
Warning bells are ringing.