Timetable for Turkey’s EU membership

The European Commission will make its final decision according to our fall progress report, all of them said, stressing that the implementation of reforms is crucial. The EU officials are staying tight-lipped on this issue.

On the other hand, hopes that the Annan plan will be altered in line with our demands – what we consider ‘sine qua non’ for a permanent settlement on Cyprus – seem rather dim. In other words, even if the Turkish Cypriots join the ranks of the Union together with the Greeks on May 1 after the Annan plan is accepted by both communities, our status will remain uncertain.

In truth, with the recent reform packages our country has effectively fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria. The EU officials are using implementation as a delaying tactic with Ankara since their views of our membership are unstable. Naturally the government must attach the highest importance to the reforms’ implementation. However, other candidate countries’ lagging performance in practice didn’t damage their membership prospects. Besides, the EU might uncover countless deficiencies in such a complex area. Reports show that serious shortcomings exist even in the member countries. Moreover, how could a country which put forth the greatest effort on this path possibly deceive the EU here? Turkey, just like the others, can complete the missing sections in practice during its 10-year membership process.

While what German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in Ankara was quite encouraging, recent statements from some other German politicians, such as opposition leader Angela Merkel, were very disappointing. Even EU Commission head Romano Prodi himself said that the pros and cons of our membership must be explained to the European community. Keeping in mind other proposals suggesting referendums on our membership, we see how ambiguous and complicated the current view in the old continent is.

In Germany, parties opposing our membership are likely to win in the 2006 elections. These people have prejudices against our country, backed up by an unspoken racism. If our country remains outside the EU, in the future these negative views might become even more dangerous. In France, the situation is quite different. The French extreme right not only opposes our membership but also France’s own, as well as the new EU Constitution. The French fear that if Turkey is supported, the extreme right might win more power in the upcoming European Parliament elections.

Under these circumstances, our government must adopt a more proactive policy and insistently demand a timetable for its own membership process. We should try to take advantage of our ever-growing importance in the Greater Middle East Initiative. Our internal political stability also hinges on how successful the current government performs on these issues.”