BY DERYA SAZAK
MILLIYET- In Turkey, the word ‘ohala’ means ‘hopefully.’ European Parliament President Josep Borrel said recently in Brussels, ‘Turkey wants to become part of Europe, but it should see the difficulties. We will accept starting EU membership talks with Turkey. Our watchword to our Turkish friends concerning membership is ohala.’ The EP will convene on Dec. 14 in Strasbourg, just three days before the Dec. 17 EU summit, to approve a decision to start membership talks with Turkey. The importance of this decision in terms of the leaders’ summit is symbolic, that is, it’s not binding. However, a majority of votes favoring Turkey might sway European public opinion. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Turkey’s red lines, and this might influence the Netherlands’ work reviewing the draft statement for the summit. However, the latest draft didn’t dispel suspicions about a date for talks and membership. Paragraphs left blank will be filled by the leaders during next Friday’s EU summit. If the screening process begins next April, it’s expected that an intergovernmental conference meeting will be held in October. Borrell’s ‘hopefully’ is based on this. However, if there’s disagreement among the leaders concerning the nature of Turkey’s membership or a date for talks, the problem will likely be left to the European Commission.
Ankara wouldn’t want EU leaders to push the buck to the commission. This is a worst-case scenario, and Erdogan would freeze the EU process, as then Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz did during the 1997 EU summit in Luxembourg. Even if there are certain technical problems in Brussels, such a conclusion is the least likely scenario. Diplomatic bargaining will continue until the night of Dec. 17. Obviously everything won’t end with the beginning of our talks. In Brussels we might face shocks: demands to de facto recognize the ‘Cyprus Republic,’ to find a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue, and to improve relations with Armenia. Everybody in the EP is saying different things. Before the vote on Dec. 14, the submission of more than 500 motions shows this, no?