STAR- Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli comments on Turkish-EU relations and yesterday’s Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit in Istanbul. A summary of her column is as follows:
Whenever Turkey finds itself at odds with the EU, it immediately starts casting about for alternatives that would be possible substitutes for the Union. Whenever Turkey is disappointed by the EU, the same tune is sung in unison: ‘The EU will never let in predominantly Muslim Turkey.’ And eventually Turkey turns its eyes once again to Central Asia, with which we share a common tongue, and to the Middle East, with which we share a common faith. Yet, does Turkey have really an alternative besides to the EU which could truly achieve economic and political integration? Yesterday’s Seventh Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit gathered at Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace gave the best answer to this question.
The ECO was established in 1985 under Turkey’s initiative, and it currently has 10 members; the six Central Asian republics, the sister states of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Turkey’s tough neighbor Iran, and Turkey itself. The ECO stretches over a wide geography and is rich in terms of natural resources such as oil, natural gas and water. However, it largely lacks one very important element, one which can, in no way, be compensated for by the natural resources listed above: democracy. The regimes of the ECO member countries stand in a stark contrast to each other. Among them, the most ‘stable democracy’, in spite of all its shortcomings, is that of Turkey. Iran has a quasi-Islamic rule, and the Central Asian Turkic Republics all have some kind of dictatorship. In Pakistan there is this general, Pervez Musharraf, who took the reins of the country with a coup. And, the regime in Afghanistan is there thanks to international aid. Although these 10 countries have a great deal in common in terms of values, religion and culture, their vast differences in political outlook cannot help but be manifested when they try to ‘cooperate.’ Speaking at the summit yesterday, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer complained that in spite of its half-decade-plus history, the ECO had at yet been unable to take any significant steps. Similar sentiments slipped out of the mouths of leaders from other countries. And the one-day gathering ended with nothing concrete to show for it, but rather with all good wishes for the next summit. The ECO summit in Istanbul alone clearly proved one thing: If Turkey sincerely wants to make further progress in terms of both democracy and secularism, it has no other alternative, politically and economically, besides the EU.
The European countries also display a diverse picture in terms of their languages, cultures and even religion. However, they have one strong glue holding them together, namely democracy. Thanks to this cement, the EU has been able to achieve a common currency and economy.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION