BY GUNDUZ AKTAN
RADIKAL- This year's European Union progress report is shorter and more concise than previous ones. As usual, its technical chapters are better. The problems come from the political criteria and sections on the Cyprus issue. We're headed for a 'train crash' on the Cyprus issue. Finland's proposal is so hopeless that even its revised version wouldn't work. The Greek Cypriots have adopted such an extreme stance since they saw they would join the EU that not even a genius could find a solution. The EU doesn't consider if the member countries are right about an issue or not, but takes a stance as part of the solidarity among members. For the EU, it's not important if the other country is a candidate today and will be a member tomorrow. It treats that country as a `third country.' It says that according to the additional protocol, it's an international undertaking for us to open our harbors and airports. Thus, it's hiding the political quality of the Cyprus issue behind the Customs Union, which has a technical character. As it doesn't consider the developments since November 2002 when UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan was announced, it can't see that the Greek Cypriots are wrong. The report refers to the EU's September 2005 declaration but ignores Turkey's declaration in July. In short, the EU supports the Greek Cypriots' excessive demands. The EU stipulated that Turkey can become an EU member if it solves the Cyprus issue in a way to please the Greek Cypriots. The EU's stance on the terrorist PKK is no different. The EU argues that we should respect human rights in the fight against terrorism. It wants us to be a party to international agreements concerning the minority. The EU stipulates that we should give cultural rights to Kurds and talks about a minority status which in the future would lead to collective rights. Meanwhile, it suggests that we apply a regional development project for the southeast, with financing uncertain.
The report fails to say that the Kurdish issue should be solved within Turkey's territorial integrity and political unity. In this case, it seems that all the steps that are taken will only increase the Kurdish separatists' demands. Meanwhile, the Turkish public has some doubts about the EU's stance. The things the EU wants us to do in the membership process actually aren't directly related to Turkey's real problems. The EU wants a possible member country to develop its liberal democracy and liberal market economy, establish certain rules which regulate the course of market and apply high standards in economic and social sectors. It even wants the application of administrative and judicial reforms not to improve services and justice, but for the application of EU rules. Naturally, the other policies are left to the countries' own preference. Secularism, which is a sine qua non for democracy in Turkey, is outside the EU's sphere of interest. The only demand that the EU has in the political field is to lower the 10% election threshold. Such issues as the Political Parties and Elections Law or a presidential system for improving the parliamentary regime don't appear on the EU's agenda. Actually, the EU's demands on the economy aren't directly related to improvement. Such issues as establishing an effective and competent bureaucracy, unemployment and poverty, technology policy, quality of education, vocational education, cooperation between universities and industry, social ethics, etc. have no place in the process of EU membership. However, we can't develop and become democratized without solving these issues. It seems that we won't be able to become an EU member because of the Cyprus issue, but it's actually because we're a Muslim country. As the EU isn't concerned with the solution of basic problems, there's no reason to be sad about it.