BY ERDAL SAFAK
SABAH- The first leg of the biannual Troika meeting between Turkey and the European Union will be held in Ankara today. As Troika means three, these meetings bring together Turkey and representations from the EU's present and incoming presidents. A member of the EU Commission also attends the meeting. Today's meeting will be attended by Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, EU Term President Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, next Term President France's State Minister for EU Affairs Jean Pierre Jouyet, and EU Commission Member for Enlargement Olli Rehn.
Such issues as reforms, measures to galvanize Ankara's EU membership talks, domestic political developments, and the impact of the world economic crisis will keep the Troika busy. But I seriously doubt they will be able to handle all these difficult problems, because three out of four parties at the meeting are lame ducks.
1. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is marking his first year in power, but has little reason to celebrate, because his public support is very low. According to the latest polls, two-thirds of the French people dislike him, much like US President George W. Bush.
2. EU Commission Chairman Jose Manuel Barroso spends most of his time on personal lobbying. He wants to be elected EU chairman next year, a sort of chairman to represent 27 EU member countries. The majority of the 27 Commission members are also busy angling for post-November 2009, when their duties will come to an end. So the Commission often convenes with only half its members. More importantly, they avoid taking major decisions in favor of routine work.
3. As for the Turkish side, no matter if the government says that it's prioritizing reforms and will send many EU harmonization laws to Parliament, it still feels the psychological pressure of the closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Will one lame duck, out of three, mend itself? We'll see.
On the other hand, Jouyet's contacts in Ankara might help ease the tension between Ankara and Paris. Jouyet is the fourth high-ranking representative recently sent by France to Turkey. This door was opened by French Foreign Minister Bernard Koucher, followed by France's Special Representative to the Mediterranean union, Alain Leroy (appointed by Sarkozy), and then by Pierre Lellouche, a deputy of the ruling party. And now there's Jouyet .
Apart from him, the three other representatives have a common characteristic: contrary to Sarkozy, they favor Turkey's EU membership. Even Lellouche is such a feverish supporter that he once said that it would be crazy to reject Turkey.
Sarkozy has a reason to send all these representatives. Actually, he's trying to convince Ankara to participate in the EU-Mediterranean countries summit in Paris this July, because he sees the upcoming EU term presidency Paris and this summit as golden opportunities to fix his image.
Would Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan go to Sarkozy's aid during a time with such a heavy political agenda? I think he will, because one of Turkey's feet is in the EU, no matter what people say. In addition, Turkey is the strongest nation, both politically and economically, among non-EU-member Mediterranean countries. Finally, it's a founding member of the Barcelona Process, which established the Mediterranean union's basis and was initiated by the EU and countries around the Mediterranean in 1995.