BY ILTER TURKMEN
HURRIYET- Last week I took part in a conference jointly organized by Sabanci University’s Istanbul Policies Center and the research centers of two European universities in Madrid. The most striking issue that came up at this meeting was the problems that Spain had faced during its own EU membership talks. A number of Spanish participants underlined interesting similarities between Turkey and Spain as they shared their experiences with us.
First of all, both countries have a legacy of once-great empires. As Spain cannot ignore Latin America in its policies, Turkey cannot turn a blind eye to the Middle East. Both countries’ foreign policies are multidimensional. As some now question whether or not Turkey belongs in Europe, fierce debates were once seen on whether Spain is European.
Once, Spain was a Mediterranean country in the eyes of most Europeans. They believed that Europe ended at the border of Spain. In addition, Spain was also hanging under the threat of terrorism like Turkey today, and it also had to deal with double standards on this issue.
The Francisco Franco dictatorship plunged the country into complete isolation in the post-World War II period. After Franco died in 1975, Spain’s transition to democracy was difficult and painful. Even after negotiations began with Brussels in 1979, the Spanish military attempted a coup d’etat in 1981.
In that period, the Copenhagen criteria had yet to be fully conceptualized but there was the essence of some basic principles. Spain signed a number of United Nations conventions on personal, political, economic and social rights. The country then normalized its relations with most countries, and it was forced to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Negotiations were very tough. However, they came to a happy ending in 1986 with the support of then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
In an economic sense, there are both similarities and differences between Turkey and Spain. Today our country’s national per capita income is approximately 30% of the European average. Spain’s was about 68% before it joined the bloc. However, there are certain structural similarities between the two countries.
Agriculture was a very important problem to Spain, which on the other hand had to struggle with high inflation. Spain was largely dependent on foreign countries for energy. Trade and payments deficits plagued the country for a long time. In addition, the financial structures of its industrial institutions were weak, and the banking system was fragile. Today, Spain seems to have overcome all of these problems. Spain has been fully integrated into Europe.
The Spanish participants yesterday also underlined that a ‘no-concession’ policy on the Turkish side during accession talks would harm us very much. According to them, Turkey must not seek reciprocity on every issue. Ankara should be ready to compromise with Brussels. Ultra-nationalism can never fit with the EU principles. As Francois Mitterand once said, ‘Nationalism means war.’ EU membership talks might be hard to handle, but it’s much better to be a part of the bloc than shut out of it.
Today Spain is the most enthusiastic advocate of the European project. It approved the EU Constitution by a single referendum without causing any problems to Brussels. It’s very important for nations to learn the necessary lessons from their pasts.