BY YILMAZ OZTUNA
TURKIYE- Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on the implications of Turkey’s European Union membership bid. A summary of his column is as follows:
On Tuesday British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed Turkey’s European Union membership, calling it ‘epochal’ that a Muslim nation and US ally would join the EU ranks. On the same day German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder predicted that next December the EU would give Turkey a date for membership negotiations. The Italian prime minister is also our prime minister’s pal, and we expect such sweet nothings from the French prime minister too. Joking aside, Blair’s evaluation of Turkey in terms of Europe’s interests was interesting for us. Britain was our successor in governing quite a few Middle Eastern countries, for example Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus, Syria and Lebanon. In 1940, Britain was the world’s superpower.
I’ve written in this space many times that our position as the US’ strategic ally would boost our prestige in Europe. Moreover, Europe and the US both attach great importance to our status as a Muslim country. They want to urge others to follow Turkey’s lead in demonstrating the compatibility of democracy and Islam. However, I don’t think one should say that everybody should experience Islam as we do in Turkey, because every Muslim country must act in accordance with its own traditions, and not necessarily our example.
When Turkey becomes an EU member, Europe will grow more militarily powerful. It will also gain a friendly, easy gateway to Asia. Europe also thinks that as long as democracy spreads, terrorism will lose support.