Who Likes Empty Promises?

CUMHURIYET- Columnist Erol Manisali comments on the EU’s decision on Turkey taken at last week’s Copenhagen summit. A summary of his column is as follows:
In December 2004, the European Union will decide whether or not to give Turkey a date for negotiations, just as 10 other countries join the Union and swell its ranks to 25 members. Turkey is ahead of these other countries in a number of respects, but it has been given nothing but empty promises. As Athens stated, not only the Copenhagen criteria, but also the Cyprus and the Aegean issues are included in our ‘homework.’ Two months ago I wrote that the EU would certainly produce something including the words ‘date’ and ‘timetable.’ The reasons for this are as follows:
1. ‘Brussels wants the single-sided arrangement to continue.’ The EU is exploiting Turkey. They say that this situation shouldn’t be changed!
2. As stated in a report given to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer by the Turkish Confederation of Labor Unions (Turk-Is), the other side thinks it would be better if Turkey is kept on a leash and under control’ so that concessions can be won.
3. The most important thing is to continue the policy of empty promises so Turkey is kept both at bay and under control.
This policy was ensured at last week’s summit, and Turkey wasn’t cut loose. They didn’t give Turkey anything and so they prepared an atmosphere for telling lies. Turkey should have been put in the same group as Bulgaria and Romania, the two nations left out of the 10 but set on track for a later admittance, to at least give it something. Turkey was only given a bone so the policy of empty promises could continue. Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan confessed in Copenhagen that he had participated in this policy, saying, ‘Turkish-EU relations stayed on the rails.’ But President Sezer, who once said, ‘Europe doesn’t have good intentions: it’s only feeding us empty promises’ was the only politician to tell the truth. He told the truth courageously, refusing to lie to 70 million people, unlike certain others. Not a single good decision was made on Turkey during the Copenhagen summit last week. This was no surprise to those who have been involved in this previously, because the EU’s policy on Turkey has been clear since 1989: Turkey won’t be included in the future ‘United States of Europe.’ However, it will be kept on a leash. The current uproar reflects the clash between those who support this policy and those who oppose it.

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