Turkey criticized more frequently

Those who said: "We are with you. Turkey’s full membership is an issue we will give our full support," a few years ago and those who promised everything to the Turkish prime ministers and foreign ministers they met, are now finding it hard to say a single word on the issue.

When they gave their full support, they were sure Turkey would fail to satisfy the Copenhagen criteria.

When Turkey surprised everyone, they started to think about what they were going to do. They don’t know how to say "no" to a matter they said they supported for many years. Actually they have grounds for rejection. They can say: "Yesterday was yesterday. Today is today."

"Conditions were different in the past. Now we have 25 members. We are too big. We don’t know how we can carry such a load. We cannot admit as large a country as Turkey on top of this. Let’s wait awhile."

Actually, I am sure there is no single country that fully supports Turkey’s membership. However, that’s a matter for them to resolve. Turkey will keep on pushing to get what it believes it deserves.

No one wants it, but the majority cannot take the chance of facing the instability and chaos that will result if they say "no" to Turkey. They are preparing to approve the start of Turkey’s membership negotiations in fear of what may happen if they didn’t.

A bad smell is coming out of France
The thing I am most uncomfortable with is the increasing reactions to Turkey’s membership from France, which is considered one of the big-three in the EU (France, Germany and Britain). It is becoming a domestic issue.

Those who oppose the policies of President Jacques Chirac are turning Turkey in to a domestic matter. Even the opposition within his own party (especially the former Prime Minister Alain Juppe) is trying to put pressure on Chirac by using Turkey as leverage.

Is Chirac going to support Turkey’s membership no matter what, or will he apologize and shut the door.

Current situation shows there is trouble ahead.

Our only hope is a change in attitude and a period of normalization after the parliamentary elections in June. We hope that Turkey’s membership stops being a domestic political matter.

Whatever happens, it seems hard for Turkey to influence each and every one of the 25 members, despite all the efforts.

The only thing that will influence those opposed to Turkey’s membership will be the report of the EU Commission.

NATO meeting in danger
Dogu Ergil is studying terrorism and its global relations for some time. He is also working on suicide bombers in a study group in NATO.

An interview of his by Radikal daily’s Nese Duzel was published. Ergil is making dire warnings. He stresses the need for taking special measures before the NATO summit. He gives a brief description about the preparations of al Qaeda.

It is obvious how much terrorism has affected us. Everybody has started to understand that no country should protect its own terrorists and support the U.S.’s efforts to tackle the problem, no matter how wrong their policies are.

Turkey’s invitation to the G-8 summit, scheduled for next week, should be considered very important in this respect.

Turkey’s invitation as an example, not as a target, is also a lesson for the EU. If the world’s eight richest countries are calling Turkey to be by their side, the EU should not ignore the country.

It appears that we have to disentangle ourselves from these imam-hatip, headscarves debates, and to look at what is happening around us.