A campaign that is Turkey's to win
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 10, 2009 00:00
In our news meeting yesterday we found ourselves discussing the results of the European Parliamentary election. One editor intellectually disposed to Hegelian analysis was heard to remark: "Only the European socialists could be so inept," s/he said, "as to suffer electoral setbacks in the middle of an historical economic depression."
This is, perhaps, a bit harsh. It is not as if the election was swept by anti-Turkish blackshirts. The center-right European People’s Party, a coaliton of Christian Democrats, secured 276 seats in the 736-seat legislature to lead the poll. The socialists secured the No. 2 position with 159 seats, down from 215. Let’s keep in mind that the Angela Merkels of Europe aside, many Christian Democrats have been quite consistent in their support of Turkey’s integration into European institutions. Spain’s Christian Democrats, for example, have long supported our European Union membership.
We should also avoid the confusion of many Europeans who believe the European Parliament has a real function. It does not. Its membership rubberstamps the European Commission budget each year and that’s about it. This leaves plenty of free time for speeches and studies and per diem travel to pleasant places. German Ambassador to Turkey Eckart Cuntz pointed out as much in yesterday’s Daily News. Thank you, Your Excellency.
But it would be wrong to ignore the significance of this campaign and poll, in which as one sage noted, Turkey and Turkey’s bid for EU membership became the proxy for everything wrong in Europe. The hard job of pursuing Turkey’s legitimate aims with Europe has just become all the more difficult.
We certainly share in the blame for the current state of affairs. We know we are widely read each day among European political and business elites. If they don’t understand Turkey, the Daily News should be among those in the judgment dock.
All of us committed to Turkey’s future in the European Union should use this opportunity for reflection. In Turkey, the coalition of disparate interests that came together in the years before 2004 to successfully launch long-stalled formal negotiations has frayed. It needs leadership and revitalization. The government, and its first full-time negotiator, need to recover their focus and narrow that focus strictly on requisite reforms in the justice system, trade law, environmental rules and other areas. The perennial political thorn that is Cyprus should top the agenda of the prime minister in his upcoming visit to Greece.
Turkey’s friends in Europe can and should do a better job making the point that the EU, with its aging population, declining technological and research base, energy dependency and disappearing vitality needs Turkey. Europe, in fact, desperately needs Turkey.
Let’s not be like the EU socialists. EU membership is a campaign that is Turkey’s to win.
We should also avoid the confusion of many Europeans who believe the European Parliament has a real function. It does not. Its membership rubberstamps the European Commission budget each year and that’s about it. This leaves plenty of free time for speeches and studies and per diem travel to pleasant places. German Ambassador to Turkey Eckart Cuntz pointed out as much in yesterday’s Daily News. Thank you, Your Excellency.
But it would be wrong to ignore the significance of this campaign and poll, in which as one sage noted, Turkey and Turkey’s bid for EU membership became the proxy for everything wrong in Europe. The hard job of pursuing Turkey’s legitimate aims with Europe has just become all the more difficult.
We certainly share in the blame for the current state of affairs. We know we are widely read each day among European political and business elites. If they don’t understand Turkey, the Daily News should be among those in the judgment dock.
All of us committed to Turkey’s future in the European Union should use this opportunity for reflection. In Turkey, the coalition of disparate interests that came together in the years before 2004 to successfully launch long-stalled formal negotiations has frayed. It needs leadership and revitalization. The government, and its first full-time negotiator, need to recover their focus and narrow that focus strictly on requisite reforms in the justice system, trade law, environmental rules and other areas. The perennial political thorn that is Cyprus should top the agenda of the prime minister in his upcoming visit to Greece.
Turkey’s friends in Europe can and should do a better job making the point that the EU, with its aging population, declining technological and research base, energy dependency and disappearing vitality needs Turkey. Europe, in fact, desperately needs Turkey.
Let’s not be like the EU socialists. EU membership is a campaign that is Turkey’s to win.