HURRIYET- Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on developments in the Netherlands concerning Turkey before next month’s Copenhagen summit. A summary of her column is as follows:
‘The thing that separates Turkey from other Muslim countries is its hope for the future,’ a journalist said recently. ‘This is the greatest difference between other Islamic countries and Turkey. If you don’t open Europe’s door to Turkey, you should know that this will spell trouble. A European Turkey would prove that democracy doesn’t belong to Christians alone and make Europe take a look in the mirror. This would mean change for everybody. Why don’t we make concessions for Turkey concerning the Copenhagen criteria? If we continue on our current path, we might create problems in Turkey. Don’t forget that there are Turkish people living in our countries and they are our citizens, too. Turkey’s problems are our problems as well.’
The Netherlands exerted great efforts for Turkey’s European Union candidacy before 1999’s Helsinki Summit, but now in the leadup to next month’s Copenhagen summit, it is staying silent. Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan will go to The Hague this evening during the second round of his tour of Europe. Before the summit, which begins Dec. 12, the only voice in Turkey’s favor so far was made at a meeting of the Netherlands-Turkish Business Association (NETUBA). The above-quoted words were uttered by Bernard Bouwman, the Turkey correspondent for prestigious Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad. During the meeting, which was attended by representatives of leading Dutch companies as well as bureaucrats and politicians, Erik Jan Zurcher, the chair of Leiden University’s Turkish Studies Department, explained the differences between the Justice and Development Party and the banned Welfare Virtue parties (RP and FP). I explained the conditions that had brought the AKP to power and the possibilities in Turkey’s political life. Martjin Elgersma, an undersecretary at the Dutch Embassy in Ankara, evaluated Turkey’s post-election economic situation, saying, ‘If a concrete target and positive results come out of the Copenhagen summit, this would provide a boost to the Turkish economy.” NETUBA’s Turkish Co-Chairman Zekeriya Yildirim was among those who said that in spite of the positive atmosphere of the meeting, the Dutch government and business world were keeping silent on the need to give Turkey a date. Hans Risch, NETUDA’s Dutch co-chair, said that domestic circles were making efforts so a realistic result would emerge from Copenhagen and that the Netherlands’ silence was a result of an unstable political situation.
Yes, the Netherlands is looking for answers to social problems that it has never faced before. The current Dutch government is a caretaker one until elections are held in January. One can’t say that the Netherlands is in favor of expansion of the EU. Today we shouldn’t be extremely optimistic about the answer to be received by AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Netherlands. The opinion of the Christian democrats and liberals, who are the most powerful candidates in the upcoming elections, is as follows: ‘Yes, Turkey has taken very important steps in terms of fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria. The things accomplished by Ecevit’s government and Ismail Cem concerning this issue were very important. However, it’s too early to give Turkey a date at the Copenhagen summit.’ So what’s the suggestion? The answer to this problem can be found in the words of Foreign Minister and Liberal Party foreign policy spokesman Jozias Van Aartsen: ‘Let’s give Turkey an appointment for 2003 and start a discussion on a date for full membership negotiations.’ It’s not even a date for a date, only an ‘appointment’.

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