BY MURAT YETKIN
RADIKAL- Columnist Murat Yetkin writes on Turkey’s efforts to improve its democracy and Turkish-EU relations. A summary of his column is as follows:
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday stated that he wanted his colleagues, the members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), to complete their work by the end of July on the sixth reform package, which is being prepared in an effort to fulfill the EU’s Copenhagen criteria. In addition, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul had previously stated that the AKP government must complete necessary harmonization of Turkish laws and regulations within two months, with the aim of improving the country’s democracy.
We need to evaluate the AKP’s EU policy together with the latest developments in the region. The EU Commission recently announced that it was planning to lift the Union’s embargo from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The Cyprus peace process recently gained a new momentum in the wake of Gul’s meeting with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen in Brussels. Now everybody is expecting the EU to officially announce on June 4 that the embargo will be lifted. Vergeugen is then expected to visit the island. As a matter of fact, Gul and Verheugen discussed not only the Cyprus issue but also recent developments in Iraq in particular and Turkish-EU relations in general.
These issues were also discussed yesterday at a meeting between Erdogan and Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok. The government and military will have to find common ground to mend our strained relations with the US. I believe that Turkey cannot mend its relations with certain foreign countries without first stabilizing our own political-military relations. We see that whenever there is a problem between these two poles, other countries try to take advantage of the crisis. The latest example was US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz’s shocking statements accusing the Turkish military of failing to convince parliamentarians over proposed US troop deployments.
Of course, such differences of opinion between various political agencies or military institutions are normal for a democratic regime. However, we need to understand that such crises will never benefit Turkey. On the contrary, certain foreign circles always try to exploit Turkey’s sensitivities, which is why during such a critical time, our government should stabilize its relations with the military.
Erdogan’s latest statement constitutes a great opportunity not only for the AKP but also for all political and military circles in Ankara. Let’s not forget that the Turkish military also supports our country’s EU membership bid, our president backs all democratization efforts, and even our main opposition party Republican People’s Party (CHP) is lending its full support to the ruling AKP’s EU efforts. Turkey and all the decision makers in Ankara shouldn’t miss this golden opportunity.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION