BY MURAT YETKIN
RADIKAL- Just five days before last week’s terrorist attacks in Spain, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer made significant remarks on Turkey’s status in Europe, new strategic threats and the threat of global terrorism. ‘Telling Turks “You’ll never get into the EU” would be preferable to insisting on this idea of “privileged partnership”,’ Fischer told German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine, referring to a much-criticized idea raised last month by German opposition leader Angela Merkel. ‘The former would at least be honest. Shutting Turkey out from Europe would have far-reaching consequences. We’d also be effectively telling the Muslim world that the EU is a Christian club. If this is the case, let’s be honest to Ankara and then face the consequences. However, I don’t support this Christian club notion. In a recent speech in Berlin, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cited the compatibility of Islam and modern democracy as the key issue in dealing with new strategic threats. He believes that the war on global terrorism can only be successful after Turkey is integrated with Europe.’
If Christian Europe approves our membership, that would inevitably be the nightmare of those who see Islam as a political project rather than a faith.
The Madrid attacks have already had huge effects in Europe. Juan Maria Aznar, who tried to deceive the world by fingering ETA for the attacks, paid a high price by falling from grace and political power. Spain’s new socialist Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero’s first move was to announce that Spanish soldiers would withdraw from Iraq. We’ll see if these new developments boost US voters’ support for John Kerry, Bush’s democratic rival in this fall’s presidential elections. We can see how it’s already strengthened anti-American feeling in Europe.
But what’s this got to do with Turkey’s EU membership bid? While some believe that the recent developments will intensify anti-Turkish sentiment on the old continent, others are taking an opposite tack, arguing that bringing Turkey into the Union would be the best political answer to terrorism.
Let’s take one last look at Fischer’s words:
‘We have three important matters to be resolved: first, Turkey’s integration with Europe, second, Iran’s democratic process and finally, the Middle East conflict. All these can only be resolved by boosting the EU’s role in the region’.