Long live the Turkish Republic

Membership in the EU is seen in Turkey as the crystallization of founder Kemal Ataturk’s dream of reaching and going beyond "contemporary civilization."

In an effort to bring its laws into line with EU standards, Turkey has passed sweeping reforms, and the EU Commission finally concluded on Oct. 6 that Turkey has sufficiently fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria, recommending to EU leaders that the long-delayed accession talks start.

On Dec. 17, EU leaders will decide whether the talks should start.

Determined to get the go-ahead, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu, Foreign Minister Gul and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek met yesterday to review strategy in the run-up to the December summit. The meeting’s attendees agreed to strengthen reform implementation and speed up efforts to wipe out torture in line with the government’s zero-tolerance for torture policy.

But sensitivities also remained. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said in a statement issued on the occasion of the Republic Day that efforts to underline ethnic and religious differences would both undermine the nation-state and harm national unity, a reference to discussions over "minorities" in Turkey and EU calls for greater rights for minorities.

On Wednesday, the National Security Council (MGK), a gathering of top political leaders and military commanders, said the European Union must treat Turkey in exactly the same way as any other aspiring member.

After a five-hour meeting, the MGK said in a brief statement: "It was emphasized that criteria and methods that were not foreseen for other candidate countries should not be applied to Turkey."

The European Commission, in a nod to the many opponents of Turkish membership, said on Oct. 6 that the negotiations could be suspended at any time if Ankara backtracked on its reforms.

In its annual report on Turkey, the commission also called for an "open-ended" negotiation process that might not lead automatically to membership and raised the possibility of permanent curbs on Turkish labor movement inside the EU, seen in Ankara as tantamount to discrimination

Festivities begin
The festivities began yesterday at 1:00 p.m. at the Land Forces War Academy, with the Governor’s Office and Turkish Armed Services (TSK) laying wreaths at statues of Ataturk located in Ulus, at Parliament, in Sihhiye and at the Ataturk Forestry Farm.

All state offices are displaying posters and banners featuring the Turkish flag or Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s portrait. Representatives of the diplomatic corps in Ankara laid a wreath at Ataturk’s Mausoleum yesterday.

The first ceremony on Oct. 29 will be held at Ataturk’s Mausoleum at 8:45 a.m. by the top officials of the state, led by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

President Sezer will host a Republican Day reception at Cankaya Palace on Oct. 29. Several organizations will also hold their annual Republican Day celebrations around Ankara.

Meanwhile, a group of Turkish models have gone to New York to participate in a fashion show hosted by the Federation of Turkish-American Associations in honor of the anniversary.

All around the country, local municipality and state officials will hold celebrations in honor of the anniversary.

The roads around Ataturk’s Mausoleum will be closed to traffic between 8:00 and 11:00 a.m. today, and roads around the Ataturk Culture Center will be closed between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. due to celebrations.

According to the State Meteorological Institute, rain is expected in the eastern Mediterranean and southeastern Turkey and in certain parts of the East today, with temperatures also dropping due to the showers.