Turkey’s bid to join EU greeted with a cold embrace by many member nations

A.H. Jaffor Ullah

   December 16, 2004, will go down in Turkish history as a red-letter day because the European Union (EU) leaders agreed on this day to open talks with Turkey on eventual EU membership notwithstanding widespread misgivings about admitting such a large and mostly Muslim nation whose per capita GDP is about one-tenth of the average GDP of EU nations.  The Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on behalf of EU nations had confirmed that the 25 EU leaders would propose Oct. 3, 2005, as the start date for the talks, which are expected to last for at least 10-15 years.

   Turkish leadership, business communities, and elites want badly to join EU, but it is difficult to gauge the opinion of common people whether they are so eager to join the Europeans because there is so little commonality between Türkic people and its culture with the Europeans. 

   I heard the news of EU leaders giving the green signal to Turkey for starting the marathon talk session this evening (December 16, 2004) in my car radio as I was commuting home from work.  The news program was that of National Public Radio’s business report entitled “Marketplace.”  The anchorperson, Mr. Kai Ryssdal, introduced the lead story as follows: “Protesters in Denmark covered up that country's best known tourist attraction today.  The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen harbor was clothed from head to tail in a burqa, one of the traditional coverings worn by devout Muslim women.  It was apparently meant to question Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.  EU leaders meeting in Brussels today gave the Muslim country a date for the start of accession talks.  October 3, 2005.  Marketplace’s Stephen Beard reports from the European Desk in London.”

   Mr. Beard with his quintessential British accent said that the stakes are high and rhetoric is fierce as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan applied pressure on EU when he gave a recent speech in which he warned the EU by saying: “You keep Turkey out at your peril.”  Quite a statement may I say!  Mr. Erdogan further said, “Our main object is to deflect the world away from the clash of civilizations.  The EU must prove that it is not a Christian club by admitting a Muslim Turkey.”  As you can see, his implication was clear.  You shut Turkey out; you risk inflaming further Islamic terrorism.  However, this kind tough rhetoric cut little ice in one of the founding members of EU states.  France’s leading editor of prestigious Le Figaro, Pierre Rousselin said, “France is the country where the people are most uncomfortable with the idea of Turkey joining the European Union.”

   Mr. Rousselin’s paper Le Figaro had conducted a poll amongst French readers of the paper in which they asked whether the readers agree to let Turkey join the EU.  An astounding 66% of the readers think that Turkey should not be allowed to join.  In the radio interview Mr. Rousselin further said, “The idea that such a big country, such a big Muslim country would become a member of the union, they think it is going to change completely.  And this is what is most frightening for the French people.”  A majority of the Germans according to a survey feels the same as the French people.  The Germans think that Turkey’s massive poverty will be a big drag on the economy of the EU nations.  According to the Marketplace report, Mr. Christian Schmidt of German opposition CSU party thinks that Turkey’s membership in EU would destroy the dream of a united Europe acting as a counterweight to American domination. 

   However, Turkey has ardent supporters too.  The British government is supporting enthusiastically Turkey’s inclusion into the EU.  Mr. Gary Titley, a Labor Party parliament member had said that Turkey has taken a huge stride towards becoming an open free market democracy.  Therefore, Mr. Titley thinks that Turkey must be rewarded for its action.  Besides, it will take another 10-15 years for Turkey to become a full-fledged member of the union as talks continue.  Therefore, Europeans will be able to assess whether Turkey is improving her economy and standard of living. 

   There are other obstacles too.  For example, would Turkey recognize the divided island of Cyprus or set limitations on the movement of Turkish workers within the EU?  Turkey has rejected those issues in the past. 

   As I alluded to earlier in the write-ups, the prospect of Turkish membership has already split governments and public opinion across the continent.  After 9-11, Europeans have become concerned about the terrorist attacks in European continent.  The Madrid train bomb incident of March 11, 2004, immediately before the general election in Spain, has given the impression that Europe is not immune from terrorist attacks.  Critics of Turkey’s inclusion into EU fear that opening the door to a populous, mostly Muslim country would profoundly alter the 25-nation bloc's European and Christian character at a time when many Europeans abhor the idea of multiculturalism.

   All is not well in Turkey either.  Many Turks feel that the EU is imposing too many restrictions on them for joining the coveted club.  On top of it, many Turks especially the ones who are Islamic fear that membership would threaten their own Muslim traditions and way of life.

   The EU leaderships know full well that widespread public misgivings exist all over Europe for letting Turkey join the EU.  The president of the EU commission, the Union's executive branch, therefore warned that Ankara still had to meet significant goals in human rights, the economy has to improve and democratic reforms have to take place before the full acceptance of Turkey into the union. 

   Many Europeans are fearful of Turkey’s inclusion into the union for security reason alone.  They think that admitting Turkey would extend the EU’s borders to the frontiers of Syria, Iraq, and Iran, admitting millions of Muslim citizens at a time when Europeans feel uneasy about having so many Muslims within their countries.  I do not blame the Europeans for harboring such malaise against Middle Eastern Muslims for that unease is based in part on terrorism fears but also on the feeling that many Muslims because of their upbringing under totalitarian regime reject European values of secularism, women's equality and separation of religion and politics.  Europeans are aware that Turkey has been an avowedly secular state since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.  However, there is a resurgence of fundamentalism based on Wahhabi Doctrine in the last three or four decades.  The killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh on November 2, 2004, allegedly by an Islamic radical angry over the artist's criticism of Muslim cultural values heightened those concerns.

   Turkey’s Prime Minister, Mr. Erdogan, is aware of these negativities.  To combat those fears he told the German newspaper, Bild, reporter that it would be “quite dangerous” to reject Turkey “because of its different culture and religion.”  To assert that Turkey will bring positive elements with her, Mr. Erdogan mentioned that his country wields influence in the Balkans, Central Asia, and the Middle East and that if Europe wants to play a major global role, “this path leads across Turkey.”

   It is noteworthy here that if Turkey were allowed to join the EU, it would become the largest EU member since its population is expected to surpass Germany’s by 2020.  That would certainly give Turkey considerable clout since population weights voting within the EU.  Nine conservative EU leaders, including from Austria and Greece, have proposed that if membership negotiations fail, the EU should open its markets to Turkey.  Thus, many European politicians think that Turkey is too large a neighbor to be ignored.

   In summary, the decision by the EU member nations to open talks with Turkey for its possible inclusion into the European Union should be music to many Turkish people who feel that their nation is ready to join the exclusive club.  The talks may continue for 10-15 years before Turkey becomes fully integrated to the EU.  Many Europeans however think that the inclusion of Turkey into the EU may change the culture of the union.  These people have the mindset of the nineteenth century.  We now live in a globalized world interconnected by ISDN phone and fast access Internet lines.  There is nothing to fear excepting the fear itself.  It will be a sound idea to include Turkey into the EU.  In hundred years or so, we will be living in a borderless world, any way.  So why are some Europeans fretting and fussing about maintaining the purity of European culture?  It beats me! 

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Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA