By Yusuf Kanli
TDN- Why shouldn't the French, the Danes, the Dutch and others discuss the pros and cons of Turkey joining the EU if such a development will introduce a drastically new dimension to the union? This is a healthy development rather than 'special' treatment or the 'discrimination' of Turks
We often talk about the hypocritical attitudes of our Western allies and complain about how gross injustices have been done to us and how we have been subjected to prejudice and discrimination. Indeed, for the most part we are justified in our complaints, although sometimes we fall victim to our own phobias and prejudices in the very same fashion.
Most Turks are fuming nowadays at the French -- thank God we have not yet started burning French-made cars or neckties -- because the French people, or their politicians, have been the most vocal in Europe in expressing their concerns about the post-Turkey-accession European Union. We are angered by suggestions that the French people must be asked in a referenda whether they approve of Turkish accession and by demands that it should be made clear in the Dec. 17 EU leaders' decision on the date to open accession talks with Turkey that the process could lead either to accession or a to special web of ties between Turkey and the EU.
Shouldn't we be angry with the French because of such demands, which were not voiced in the past for any other candidate in conjunction with a date being fixed for its accession talks? We have every reason to be angry with the French, yet we must at the same time appreciate that they are acting honestly and trying to discuss a subject that will have a fundamental impact on the identity of a club of which they have been one of the key players.
Why shouldn't the French, the Danes, the Dutch and others discuss the pros and cons of Turkey joining the EU if such a development will introduce a drastically new dimension into the European Union? This is a healthy development, rather than "special" treatment or the "discrimination" of Turks.
We must understand that all previous enlargements merely enlarged the EU... With each and every enlargement, EU territory was extended and the number of members increased, but that was all. Neither of them introduced a new dimension into the EU. Turkey's inclusion, in this sense, will be different from all previous enlargements because it will introduce not only an Asian flavor but Islam as well into the common culture of Europe.
According to expectations in Brussels, the accession talks process will take at least 10 years -- although we believe this period could be much shorter if we maintain our existing national commitment and political will. This accession talks process should serve at the same time as a golden opportunity for both Europeans and Turks as a period of discussion. While the Europeans must debate the new dimension that the inclusion of Turkey will bring about -- that is, the EU becoming a multicultural, multi-religious modernization project -- we Turks should stop talking in cliches and concentrate on learning what the EU and EU membership really mean.
Just as it's a fundamental right of our people to discuss their future, it's also the undeniable right of the peoples of Europe to discuss what will happen to their common club and to the culture of that club -- which is framed in Christianity -- once predominantly Muslim Turkey with some 80 million people joins.
Europe is an ageing society, and as Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen rightly stressed, most probably the Europeans themselves will want Turkish labor to man industries in their countries. Yet shouldn't the peoples of the EU worry about what would happen to the EU employment market once the unemployed Turkish masses become available?
Turkey's EU accession will be difficult to process, and the more the Europeans and we discuss together and separately the pros and cons of accession, the better. We shouldn't act according to phobias, nor should we allow our potential partners in the EU to act likewise.
This should not be a time for hostilities and antagonism, but rather for acting like members of one team struggling for a better future for all of us and for the world.