Confused About Copenhagen

AKSAM- Columnist Semih Idiz comments on the EU’s Copenhagen summit scheduled to begin tomorrow. A summary of his column is as follows:
What kind of decisions will the European Union make on Turkey’s membership bid at the Copenhagen summit? In fact, we’re all confused about the possible results. The predictions I’ve heard are muddled and even contradictory.
Turkey has already proved its resolve and shown the world that it’s ready to do its utmost to join the EU. However, no matter how loudly we voice our concerns about the EU’s double standards, the reality of the situation seems stubbornly immutable. As of now, it’s almost definite that Copenhagen won’t deliver what Turkey both wants and deserves.
This doesn’t mean that Ankara will return from the EU summit empty-handed. If we get nothing but double standards again, a dangerous situation for Turkish-EU relations might ensue, since the Turkish government has no intention of holding back from harshly reacting to the Union’s unfair practices. However, most European countries wouldn’t like to totally estrange our country from the EU. This is the very dilemma that they’re facing now. On the one hand, the EU won’t set a date for Turkey’s accession negotiations, but on the other it will try to offer the Turkish government something new which might compensate for such a disappointment.
What about the Cyprus issue and the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP)? We again face a true dilemma. The parties on Cyprus have as yet failed to reach agreement on the UN proposal. Despite the absence of a solution, will the Greek Cypriot administration be officially invited to join the EU in Copenhagen? The EU is unfortunately likely to do just that, despite its full awareness that such a decision might exacerbate the problems on the island. Turkey would then cut off its relations with the EU vis-à-vis the Cyprus and ESDP issues. For a country returning from Copenhagen empty-handed, there will be no point in trying to improve its relations with the Union, especially concerning certain sensitive issues on which the EU persistently maintains a rigid and unyielding stance. Ankara will also continue to oppose the ESDP. Tension will keep rising and rising.
In brief, the Copenhagen summit is more likely to be a turning point for Turkish-EU relations, which will then pave the way for either new problems or an escalation of the current problems, rather than a gathering where all problems will be peacefully solved. However, it’s not too late for the EU to change the course of history. Anti-Turkey circles within the EU, those who believe that our country must be excluded from Europe, aren’t aware how they are betraying the Union’s principles. The mentality behind their opposition towards us contradicts the Union’s founding principles, precepts which promote a multi-cultural continent.

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