The
European
Union’s tepid response to Turkey’s application for membership has
deeply discomfited Turks. Turkey is without a doubt losing the esteem of the
West, including the United States. Let us examine the aptitude of Turkey’s
membership in the EU as well as a justification of the US ’s dwindling
relationship with Turkey .
The EU’s economic
model is governed by the labor force’s adoption in the global market and
industries’ flexibility to the changing market forces such as global trading,
technological changes, aging populations, economic growth and fiscal discipline
of its member countries. The only benefit Turks could have proffered the EU is
its young labor force. But that contributing feature is overridden by two
factors: the leading European players, Germany and
France
are suffering from double-digit unemployment, and the copious labor supply
available from Eastern European countries which is by far more educated and
skilful and would be easier to assimilate into the EU.
Turkey is much
less developed and more populated than any major European member in the EU.
During the eighties they built a sizable middle class which attracted the
world’s attention. But one must look beneath the surface to find out that the
prosperity came about through American foreign aid and US-sponsored guaranteed
loans through the International Monetary Fund.
Hence, it wasn’t representative of innovation or technological or industrial
ingenuity, but rather of the leeching of American taxpayers. Here is a country
with undisciplined fiscal policy, meager industrial capabilities, high
inflation, and skyrocketing unemployment. Turkey has only liabilities to offer
and therefore is decidedly not a country that the EU would be solicitous to
include in their exclusive club.
The EU
is unequivocally committed to honoring the universality and integrity of human
rights – political, economic, social and cultural. More than any other issue,
this covenant is by far the point of greatest difference between the EU and
Turkey . To spotlight Turkey’s shabby democracy and their continual violation of
human rights, consider the following:
·Turkish leaders claim that
Turkey is a civil society where they hold elections to choose the members of
their parliament. It is true: there are a parliament and elections in Turkey. It
is also true that one-third of Turkey’s population, the Kurds, is not
represented. This is a clear violation of the democratic system which
stipulates fair representation regardless of creed or ethnic background.
·The identity of Kurds
(again, one-third of Turkey’s population) has been denied, as the constitution
conspicuously states that all citizens of Turkey are Turks.
· In the 1980’s, the mayor of the
largest Kurdish city, Dyarbaker, discoursed with his constituents in the Kurdish
language. He was sentenced to jail for more than a decade for using the outlawed
language. Abuses like these of the Kurds’ human rights have been ubiquitous
since the inception of modern Turkey.
·Since 1960 there have been three military coups d’etat and
even today a right-wing military junta is ruling Turkey, not elected officials.
In essence there is no democratic process in Turkey, while the upper echelon is
military generals.
·Turkey’s ruling party is the Justice and Development Party
(AKP), which is deeply rooted in Sunni Islamic fundamentalism and who
deceitfully disguise themselves as secular. This is a mockery of democracy for
democracy cannot exist in a country ruled by a rigid Islamic fundamentalist
party.
·
Turkey has embroiled itself in a war with Kurdish rebels (the PKK) who aim at
equitable justice and freedom for the Kurdish minority. This armed conflict
continues with no end in sight. Peace and stability is the environment where
democracy can be nurtured; democracy cannot survive in a belligerent country.
·The EU has tried hard to get Turkey to grant Kurds human
rights, yet Turkey has persisted in the repression of Kurds. The recent Turkish
threat of military intrusion into Iraqi Kurdistan evidences the fact that Turks
are not interested in democracy and respect for human rights. The resolution of
the Kurdish situation was one of the top issues put forward as a prerequisite
for consideration of Turkey ’s admission into the EU, yet Turks chose repression
and violence instead of granting Kurds their human rights and resolving their
differences with the Kurdish rebels through civilized dialogue.
Since the Iraqi
Liberation Turks have been taunting Western, in particular American, values and
policies. For example:
· The level of American and anti-West
sentiment in Turkey is one of the highest in the world.
A recent Pew opinion poll showed that
only 9 percent of Turks favor the United States while 28 percent look favorably
on Iran.
· Since the Iraqi Liberation anti-Semitic sentiments have
been on the rise. Hitler’s Mien Kampf has been one of the bestselling
books in Turkey. At the same time, the relations between
Israel
and Turkey have been weakened while Turkey’s relations with both
Iran
and
Syria have been strengthened.
·The anti-American sentiment in Turkey was recently
reinforced with the release of a movie entitled “Valley of the Wolves” which
portrays American soldiers as bloodthirsty fiends who are defeated by ragtag
Turks in Iraqi Kurdistan.
·Metal Storm, a recent
bestselling work of fiction, portrays an all-out war between Turkey and America
in 2007 in which Turkey, with the assistance of Russia and the EU,
defeats the US.
The refusal of
Turkey’s entry into the EU is merited. Turks don’t resemble Europeans, nor has
Turkey been willing to adopt the democratic principles required by the EU.
Turkey must realize its tyrannical rule prevents it from becoming part of the
democratic European Union. However, Turks are attributing the European lack of
enthusiasm for Turkey’s admission into the EU to being Moslem. That may be true,
although in this case the EU is well justified not to recruit a member nation
that is ruled by fundamentalist Sunni Moslems, one of the most antagonistic
nations in the world toward Western values and traditions.
