BY ILTER TURKMEN
HURRIYET- The European Union Commission attaches great importance to the project of developing dialogue between the civil societies of member and candidate countries. What they mean by candidate countries is Croatia, etc. However, actually they place more importance on Turkey on this issue, because the major criticism against the EU’s enlargement policy comes from the concern and prejudice created by Turkey’s EU bid. The commission will finance its dialogue project from a fund of 40 million euros beginning next year. The dialogue aims to address not only Western, but also Turkish public opinion. Indeed, after the French and Dutch rejection of the referendum on the EU constitution, doubts on our EU membership are on the rise. The civil dialogue’s long-term aim is to prepare the citizens of Europe and Turkey for Turkey’s EU membership. The broad participation of economic and social institutions and the education, culture and media sectors are expected in the dialogue. In some of the fields envisaged by the EU Commission, productive programs are already being implemented. For example, ‘Socrates’ is the economic action program of the EU, and ‘Erasmus’ covers communication and cooperation in higher education. Our universities have been implementing student exchange programs for two years. For example, Galatasaray University, which is the only university in Turkey to offer education in French, has agreements with 39 French, two Belgian, one Italian, one Polish and one Greek university. Thirty students from Galatasaray were educated in French and Belgian universities, and nearly 20 French students received education at Galatasaray in 2004-2005. These numbers will rise to 90 and 50 respectively in the next academic year.
Such relations will also be beneficial in order to create a greater rapprochement between the two countries. Of course the work should be carried in youth and family associations, unions and churches. Politicians and the media play the most important role in terms of directing public opinion. There are constant contacts between European and Turkish politicians, but it’s hard to believe that there’s a real dialogue between them. As for the media, it should be kept in mind that following exciting headlines and supporting false views tends to mislead public opinion. Informing Turkish public opinion on the EU and winning over EU public opinion will be important. The Turkish public is a bit impatient and is quickly influenced by bad news. It has understandable historic doubts and is generally suspicious. Public institutions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) of both the EU and Turkey should keep these characteristics in mind at all times.