Which Side Will The Government Take?

CUMHURIYET- Columnist Erol Manisali comments on Turkish-EU relations. A summary of his column is as follows:
What is the European Union planning to do about Turkey’s membership bid ahead of next month’s Copenhagen summit? What is the EU’s Turkey policy? Everybody in Turkey is trying to find an answer to these questions. Here are the facts:
The EU doesn’t want Turkey to become a full member. It’s actually still hesitating about setting a date for Turkey’s accession negotiations even if doing so wouldn’t impose any responsibility or burden on it. During his recent visit to Poland, Deniz Baykal, chairman of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), observed that the EU was trying to put Turkey off. When ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Greek counterpart Costas Simitis that Cyprus and Turkey should join the EU simultaneously, you could feel the cold winds blowing from Greece. In addition, European Convention Chairman Valery Giscard d’Estaing recently shocked us by arguing that Turkey’s EU accession would bring about ‘the end’ of the Union and doom Turkish-EU relations. Furthermore, in his address to the Italian Parliament enthusiastically applauded by its deputies, Pope John Paul II remarked that Christianity was one of the fundamental elements of the European Union. However, none of these developments should come as any surprise. Former Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel always brought these facts to the public, risking all the while the wrath of certain circles who deliberately spread lies about Turkish-EU relations.
The EU seems to be preparing a calendar for Turkey with certain conditions. Here’s their thinking on the matter: Since there’s a new government which is trying to show the world that it isn’t anti-Western or Islamic, let’s take advantage of the new post-election political situation and put pressure on Turkey to make some concessions! The Europeans are indeed exerting political pressure on Turkey using the carrot-and-stick approach. The carrot is the prospect of Turkish admittance to the European Union. The EU wants, on the one hand, to maintain this single-sided relation and to keep the hopes of the Turkish nation alive, but one the other hand, it always finds new stick tactics to block Turkey’s actual admission. The Union also wants to use its own methods to solve the Cyprus issue even if this could mean the total loss of the island for our country.
The EU sees the UN Cyprus plan as a last opportunity. It is trying to drastically reduce the number of Turkish soldiers on the island. What about the troops of other countries? There are two British bases bristling with weapons, helicopters and ammunition. In addition, there is also a Greek army equipped with high-tech armaments. If Cyprus is admitted to the EU, then the German and French militaries as well as forces of Britain and the US are likely to deploy troops on Cyprus. Nobody is willing to oppose these groups. All they want to do is to cut the number of Turkish groups. But why? Isn’t this hypocrisy?
The EU is trying to take advantage of Turkey’s sensitive situation as a country which is trying to improve its democracy, build a better future for the nation and boost its people’s standard of living. Moreover, there are domestic circles supporting the EU by advocating making every possible concession to get a date for accession negotiations. I wonder which side the new government will take? Will it come around to the side of the nation? Or will it adopt new policies, departing from its ‘no-concession’ attitude, as the EU has demanded? For my part, I hope it will stand by the nation without falling into the traps laid by the EU.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION