'A civilization project'

By Gunduz Aktan
TDN- Germanic Europe, from which Western civilization evolved contrary to the Mediterranean basin, was never multi-cultural in the sense of being multi-religious. It exterminated the European Jewry with the Holocaust, which was the apex of a policy of a thousand years of anti-Semitism. The successful implementation of liberal democracy and pluralism undoubtedly contributed to the development of tolerance, together with economic prosperity. However, it was not enough to turn the European Union into a multi-cultural society. The EU’s civilization project depends on it being multi-cultural.
After World War II, Europeans, thinking the Holocaust could never be repeated, started to bring in laborers from outside. With Central and Eastern Europe being behind the Iron Curtain, it had nowhere to turn to but the Muslim countries. Either due to imprudence, or believing they had changed, or even because they thought they could send back those who had come, they welcomed Muslims who were members of the other Monotheistic religion. Therein they committed a grave mistake.
The leader of the German Christian Democrats Angela Merkel said recently that the multi-cultural Europe project had failed. Apart from a small group, Muslims have not integrated into the parent society. Ghettos have become common. The proportion of Muslim inmates in prison and among the unemployed has increased dramatically. An internal proletariat based on religion and ethnicity has emerged. The threat of radical Islamist terrorism has appeared.
In reaction to these developments, opinions on assimilating, instead of integrating the Muslims, are gaining ground in the EU. The influence of the extreme rightist and racist parties is increasing. Otto Schily is trying to include the Muslims into German culture, which he calls “leitkultur.” Nicolas Sarkozy says it would be better to introduce the Anglo-Saxon version of secularism to replace the French Laicism. Both are talking about desperate projects like creating a German and French version of Islam.
Turkey’s membership sits on top of this quagmire. Additionally, Turkey is Europe’s historical other. Their prejudices against us have become pathological. The grave symptoms of this psychology can be seen everywhere. They are exaggerating our shortcomings and deflect their own deficiencies onto us. Their claims of Armenian genocide and the mistreatment of Kurds make relevant the Holocaust and their own racist attitude towards Muslims. Because we are backward in an essentialist sense, they believe we can never implement the democratization reforms and they see us as unfixable. When they say “proud nation,” they insinuate that we have no reason to be proud. They fear if they include us, the EU will collapse and result in an identity loss. While the non-recognition of the other is their own problem, they constantly ask us to promote ourselves. By banning the freedom of movement, they are trying to tell us that we can live side by side in accordance with the Theory of Cultural Relativism, but not in an intermingled manner. They neither let us go nor do they incorporate us.
All these give the impression that the EU, by trying to make Turkey a member, has bitten off more than it can chew.
We should understand the EU’s view on the Cyprus issue in terms of their perspective of the Armenian “genocide” and the Kurdish “minority.” They took the decision to make Greek Cyprus a member in 1995 even without any solution on the island. That’s why if we satisfy the intransigent Greek Cypriot demands, we will be paying a very high price. On the other hand, if we cannot resolve the matter, we won’t be able to become a member.
They say they want our membership in order to show that they can live in harmony with the Islamic world. However, the biggest fault-line between Islam and Christianity is between Turkey and the Greece/Greek Cyprus duo with the EU behind them. If we cannot become a member due to a pro-Greek stance by anxious EU members the clash between Islam and Christianity will deepen.
Are we going to create harmony by assimilating the Muslims in Europe on the one hand and satisfying the lunatic demands of the EU-backed Greeks and Armenians on the other?
A dangerous process has started, not only for us, but also for the EU.