MILLIYET- Columnist Derya Sazak writes on recent political developments in Turkey, making reference to the German experience. A summary of his column is as follows:
The coalition partners, who have been at odds on the abolition of death penalty and allowing cultural rights, are making it harder for Turkey to get a calendar for the start of its accession negotiations at the end of the year by closing to stay in the government rather than working for the nation’s EU goal. Denmark which just took over the EU term presidency for the second half of the year sent messages that Turkey could get what it wanted if it complied with the Copenhagen criteria. However, at the same time the possibility that the Greek Cypriot administration could be admitted into the Union with or without a settlement was voiced on the issue in Brussels. Ankara is approaching a critical crossroads. If the Parliament cannot extraordinarily convene at the end of the summer and solve the death penalty and cultural rights issues, the EU Progress Report to be issued in October will not be to our liking. If the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) hurdle is overcome through the support of the opposition, the government will fall apart and the EU train will be missed. Later this year elections will be held in Germany following the recent ones in France. Considering the trend towards the right in Europe, it will be beneficial to act quickly. The prime minister’s ill health and the MHP’s threats to break up the government are harming Turkey’s goal of integration with the West. The discussions and concerns over the EU are not peculiar to us. In the memoirs of former German Prime Minister and SPD leader Helmut Schmidt, there are interesting points which can shed light on our day. ‘Germany’s decision to participate in European integration at the beginning of the ’50s carried great risks, he wrote. This could have sealed the division of Germany forever. Today, after 50 years when we look back, it seems that it was great luck for the steps taken in line with the economic and political aims to have coincided with our becoming a united nation.’ Following Schmidt’s example of ‘two Germanies,’ we can say that it is certainly possible to dream of a Cyprus entering the EU in an entity which can guarantee the rights of both sides. In fact, the victory of the opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) which defended EU membership in recent local elections in the TRNC is important. France and Germany, which have fought each other throughout history, are living in peace under the EU umbrella. Schmidt goes on to say, ‘It is of utmost importance that we understand why we Germans need the EU in the face of nationalist speeches delivered against Europe. All our neighbors remember the war, above all the German occupation and Hitler’s murders. Germans have to know that all our neighbors expect us to do all we can not to allow a reoccurrence of the nationalist violence.’ On one hand, there is national identity and love for the homeland, and on the other the European Union. Countries like Germany and France have been able to solve this dilemma with the European Union identity. Why should not Turkey and Cyprus show the same courage? Why should we be divided?
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION