BY MEHMET ALTAN
STAR- Our membership talks with the European Union have of course started, but many people are still far from understanding the EU. We identify any statement made by any Western politician or the disposition of any member country with EU policies as a whole, so we still don't know how to distinguish between the EU's common and official policies. In addition, we still haven't grasped that the EU is an independent organization with its own legislative, executive and judicial branch. When the word EU is mentioned, a wise person would look towards the EU Commission. But the general tendency is towards seeing each voice raised there as the EU as a whole. We also ignore that the EU is the organization of a new mentality which tries to bring all member countries to the information age and transform them all. As I said, the EU Commission constitutes the EU's government.
As we don't follow the EU Commission, we know nothing about the disputes between member countries and the EU. For example, few know that the EU Commission warned France over prohibiting selling companies to foreigners, saying it could take legal action against France if it ignores this warning. How many of you know that the EU Commission stated that it would challenge Italy over the mountains of trash in Naples? I actually wrote this as an introduction to the Troika meeting. The group called the EU Troika is made up of the foreign ministers of the current and upcoming EU term president countries and the foreign minister of the country whose problems are being discussed.
The EU Troika met in Ankara yesterday, attended by EU Term President Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, upcoming Term President France's State Minister for EU Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet, and EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn. What was the message of the meeting? The EU told Turkey that its membership talks should be accelerated and that implementing laws is as important as enacting them. Rupel said that sooner or later Turkey will join the Union and thus he supported us. He added that he was concerned over the closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Saying that Slovenia is working to make sure Turkey's membership talks continue, Rupel said that it was trying to open at least two chapters by July, when it will pass the EU helm to France.
Asked whether France is expecting developments in the process of Turkey's bid during its term presidency, Jouyet reiterated the decision made by the European Council about our membership talks last December, adding that France will be objective, neutral and balanced on Turkey during its presidency. Jouyet added that France would treat the criteria on opening new chapters in Turkey's talks the same way. These developments mean renewed green lights.
Of course, we shouldn't forget that Rehn pointed to the excessive force used during last week's May 1 observances and that the police should have instead acted in line with EU standards. Rehn also said that he wants Turkey to develop political dialogue and consensus and that Turkey should be making progress, not retreating. The AKP's understanding this and doing what's needed is as important as its strategy against the closure case.
Troika is a Russian word meaning a carriage drawn by three horses from three sides. If the AKP hears these messages correctly and does what's needed, the carriages of both Turkey and the government will move very rapidly, without any problems from the past. Isn't this what we need the most?"