BY SUKRU KUCUKSAHIN
HURRIYET- Unlike in recent years, it seems State Minister for Foreign Trade Kursad Tuzmen will keep close to domestic political issues. When I spoke with him yesterday, he signaled this. Tuzmen, one of the nationalist/liberal figures in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), uses the lens of trade and history to look at debates over whether Turkey would end up like Malaysia or religious rule would be established. Tuzmen yesterday said that Turkey had migrated from the East to the West a thousand years ago, turned towards the West after the 1923 proclamation of the republic, had gotten engaged to the EU and is now waiting for the wedding. Then he said that for centuries, in our country men and women have done folk dances together, hand in hand, and then asked if this millennia-old tradition would change.
Tuzmen sees many similarities between Turkey and Italy. He thinks they are similar to each in the development of their sectors, manpower and their exports. He said that Italy used to be all Catholic, but now is the most modern country in Europe, and asked how this happened. He said the answer lies in its boosting its per capita income. He also sees some similarities in religion. He said that the farther north you go in Italy, and it becomes more developed, the more liberal attitudes towards religious also become. He also said the same is true of Turkey, the farther west you go. Tuzmen also asked if there's any other reason why the world's most modern Islam is found in Turkey.
Tuzmen also said that there are many differences between Turkey and other Islamic countries it is compared to and that Turkey had developed itself not through oil or natural gas, but hard work. Emphasizing that democratization is in the blood of the Turkish people and non-governmental organizations, Tuzmen said that in some of those countries the rulers stayed the same for 30 years, but the situation in Turkey is different. So Tuzmen argued that if we want to emulate another country, we should emulate Italy, and that we can succeed.
Tuzmen said that everybody will see that Turkey will protect its regime and those who fear should know better, because the Turkish people won't tolerate compulsion. When asked what would happen if Turkey faced this, Tuzmen said that if Turkey was threatened in an underhanded way, those behind this would be defeated. According to Tuzmen, Turkey should use its will to gain full European Union membership and solve its unemployment problem, and so a freer constitution is needed. He added that this is what they are trying to do. Tuzmen is sure that the government will do a better job showing its determination to reach its goal of EU membership in the months and years to come. He also said that Turkey is now one of Europe's top 11 exporters and that nobody should expect it to fall back. He also advised those who might still harbor fear to follow the government on Turkey's EU membership bid.