Turkey mulls identity on path to EU

[Ulhas Joglekar]

13 December 1999
Turkey mulls identity on path to EU
ANKARA: Embraced this weekend as the EU's first Moslem candidate, Turkey may
yet face long years waiting before the gates, uncertain still in its
European identity and viewed cautiously by some allies.
Turkish newspapers reflected euphoria over the EU's long-awaited invitation,
one calling it fulfilment of a Grand Dream.
"Now we are European," said the Sabah daily.
But Turkey has always regarded Europe with a mixture of admiration and
suspicion, just as Christian Europe has looked sometimes harshly upon
Turkey. Candidacy, for some, was a right withheld too long after Turkey's
many years of service guarding the southern flank of the West's border with
communism.
"Many intellectuals who might otherwise have reservations about membership
favour it because of what it represents -- more democracy, human rights and
control over the army," said Fehmi Koru, a commentator sympathetic to the
Islamist Virtue Party.
Some nationalists see the EU abusing Turkish good faith.
"Candidacy was needed to maintain the rule of European states over the
market of 70 million people that is Turkey," one newspaper said in a
commentary on Turkey's "European adventure".
"Full membership, however, is a dream which will not be realised even for
our grandchildren."
The words came from the daily Ortadogu, close to MHP, a nationalist party
which belongs to the ruling coalition. But they reflect the suspicions of
many intellectuals with otherwise impeccable "European" credentials.
"Especially to the European-minded elite, EU membership is the last stop on
the train of Westernisation," Koru said.
"But even these elites fear Europe has a hidden agenda."
The fear, crudely expressed, is that Europe wants to keep Turkey tied to the
Western camp and away from the influence of more radical neighbours such as
Iran and Iraq while denying it the rewards of EU membership; The Turk always
outside the gates, within sight, never invited to warm his hands at the
hearth. (AP)

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Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 1999.