World Watch: Turkey begins EU talks
Forty-six years have passed since Turkey first sought full membership in the European community. The European Union recognized Turkey as an associate member in 1963 and then dangled the possibility of full membership. The EU more recently has insisted that Turkey first recognize Greek-backed Cyprus, which Turkey invaded in 1974 and which is now a member state, in order even to be considered. And up until Monday night Austria had said Turkey should have only secondary status as a "privileged" partner.
So it was with great relief this week that the promise of full negotiations between the EU and Turkey was finally realized, albeit at midnight Monday after 30 grueling hours of preliminary talks.
But while EU and Turkish officials praised the agreement as a "historic moment," full membership for Turkey remains a distant and uncertain goal.
"It will be a very difficult process in the coming years," Faruk Logoglu, Turkey's ambassador to the United States, said at the Nixon Center in Washington on Tuesday. The earliest Turkey could join the 25-member state organization is 2015.
As the formal talks began Tuesday, troubling signs of the disagreements to come were again emerging. French President Jacques Chirac said Turkey must undergo a "major cultural revolution" and that France would need to hold a referendum for Turkey to join the EU, according to the Associated Press.
European public opinion remains stacked against Turkey's application, with many Europeans skittish about basic questions on Turkey's human rights performance, the role of Islam in the country, and its underdeveloped economy. Looming over all is the question of how a predominately Muslim country of 70 million people would change the culture of Europe. The Bush administration view, by contrast, has been to support the concept of Turkey's admission to the EU, seeing the move as helping to solidify the moderate, democratic evolution of a major U.S. ally in the Islamic world.
"The underlying problem is historical and psychological," Logoglu said. In recent years, Turkey has reformed its constitutional and legal structures, tamped down inflation, privatized industries, and abolished the death penalty, primarily in an attempt to curry favor with Europe. Still, Logoglu says the biggest obstacle remains popular skepticism of Turkey in Europe.
"Public psychology is a very difficult animal to change . I think the answer lies in the continuing reforms in Turkey," he said.
While Turkey continues its reforms, Europe's internal squabbles over the future course of the EU could threaten Turkey's application as well. French and Dutch citizens voted down the European constitution, raising concerns over whether European elites, who seek common foreign policies, trade restrictions, and laws, are out of touch with citizens. The EU, once a tight-knit group, is now, after last year's addition of 10 East European countries, a far larger and more complex organization to manage. That cannot be good news for Turkey.
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