Final negotiations start

We have entered the last week of that holiday.

On September 6, the EU-Turkey negotiation case will open. European Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen will come to Ankara to initiate the first on-the-ground survey of the negotiations.

Some representatives from the larger EU countries started their survey some time back in late July. The things that were said show where this process is headed towards, but we still lack concrete information.

Some of us still insist on arguing that Turkey will never get a date to start EU membership negotiations. This group consists of those who know nothing about what’s going on, those who have no idea how such mechanisms work and those who don’t know how to read the official statements.

And there are also the clever ones.

If you pay attention, you’ll see that they have changed their tactics. Just a short while ago, they were arguing that the EU would never start accession negotiations with Turkey. Now they argue that even if Turkey gets a date, it will never become a full member and would be refused entry after 10-15 years of being dragged through the mire.

They seem to be ignoring the fact that all countries that started the accession negotiations have eventually entered the EU. They are either unaware that the EU would not start membership negotiations with a country it had no intention to admit as a member, or they don’t want to admit it publicly. The most important thing for this group is for Turkey to remain outside the EU and becoming the rulers of the country, with a little help from the military.

In other words, their aim is to create a country where democracy doesn’t work and the appointed officials rule over the officials elected by the people.

Unfortunately, they will fail in their aims.

The latest news coming out of Brussels note that the general attitude is that Turkey’s accession negotiations even if they are long and hard, should start.

Negotiations on conditions, not the date
The key points in the marathon that will re-start next week and end on Dec. 17 are clear.

According to the wide-held perception, if nothing abnormal happens, Turkey will start its membership negotiations sometime in 2005.

The arguments, over whether to start the membership negotiations with Turkey or not, are behind us.

The matter that has yet to be resolved is how the negotiations will be conducted, which conditions will be set, or in other words, the road-map of the negotiations.

The main problem the EU faces now is how to explain it to their public when Turkey starts negotiations.

They will tell Turkey: "You have adhered to the Copenhagen Criteria and have earned the right to start accession negotiations." They will then turn to their public and say: "We started the negotiations, but this does not necessarily mean Turkey’s full membership. The negotiations will be long and it will have to satisfy certain conditions."

That’s why the formula that will be developed is expected to be very complex. Everybody will be able to interpret it the way he or she wants.

The EU is aware that it can do nothing to prevent Turkey from becoming a full member. However, they opt for the governments 10 years from now making the decision, instead of them right now. To put it more clearly, the current governments of the EU members want to keep Turkey in limbo in order to trick their own public, while not being perceived as committing the crime (!) of starting the negotiations with Turkey.

This is the fundamental thinking behind the negotiations on the DATE formula.