Turkey starts to come in from the cold

Date: 21/10/1999

The European Commission last week sought to capitalise on the new spirit of good will towards Turkey by supporting its bid to be treated as a full candidate for EU membership. Simon Taylor assesses the significance of its recommendations

IF THE 1997 summit in Luxembourg appeared to shut the door on Turkey's hopes of joining the European Union, the Helsinki meeting in December stands a good chance of prising it open again.

The new European Commission under President Romano Prodi took a bold step last week in recommending that Turkey should be treated as a full candidate for EU membership, and setting out a package of measures to bring the country closer to the Union and monitor its progress in doing so.

Despite Ankara's enthusiastic response to the Commission's overtures, the key test of whether this initiative will provide the breakthrough Turkey has been looking for will be Ankara's willingness to make some kind of gesture towards the EU.

Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen pulled off a major coup last week, capitalising on the new spirit of goodwill towards Turkey after the devastating earthquake in August to win his colleagues' support for a bold package which would give Ankara all the rights which other applicants already enjoy.

The Commission came out in favour of giving the country a full 'pre-accession strategy' in all but name, including key elements which apply to the other 12 applicants such as help in identifying a set of priority reforms for Turkey to implement, a single financial aid package and a mechanism for measuring the country's progress towards EU standards.

Ankara's reaction to the proposals was unusually warm, although it acknowledged that this was only a first - albeit important - step. “We are at the end of the tunnel but many difficulties lie ahead,” said Turkey's Ambassador to the EU Nihat Akyol, adding that the Commission's decision had been greeted with enormous relief in Ankara after the setbacks of recent years.

Akyol expressed confidence that Union leaders would support what he called the Commission's “visionary” approach at the Helsinki summit, because failing to do so after raising Turkey's hopes could do enormous damage to relations between the two sides.

He also stressed what many see as the most important element of the Commission's strategy for boosting relations with Turkey - dialogue.

Verheugen's proposals would give Ankara a full say in deciding what objectives to set as it strives to qualify for EU membership. “It gives to both parties the liberty of harmonisation and convergence at their own speed. No one can force the other,” said the ambassador.

Both sides will have their first opportunity to explore this new era of dialogue in early November, when EU foreign ministers and Verheugen will travel to Istanbul for an exchange of views with the Turkish government.

Planned talks on extending the customs union to cover services over the next couple of weeks will also provide an indication of whether a new spirit of cooperation that can deliver concrete results genuinely exists.

But the fact that Greek Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou voted against Verheugen's package when it was discussed by Prodi's team last week underlines the importance which Athens attaches to getting some meaningful sign from Ankara before endorsing the Commission's strategy at Helsinki.

A spokesman for the Greek government said last week that Athens expected “tangible proof” of Turkey's desire to meet the criteria for eventual EU membership and “not just a setting out of good intentions”.

Greece may not be the only country to insist on some display of goodwill from Ankara before moving forward. Sweden's Foreign Minister Anna Lindh said last week that Stockholm wanted to “work to achieve concrete progress in the human rights and democracy field prior to the summit meeting in Helsinki”.

A vote in the European Parliament earlier this month confirming MEPs' support for giving Turkey full candidate status but expressing strong reservations about Ankara's progress on human rights provided another illustration of the difficulties which lie ahead in forging closer relations between the EU and Turkey.

Verheugen himself admitted to MEPs that he did not know if Turkey would ever become a full member of the Union, adding that the decision to recommend giving Ankara full candidate status should be seen as a tactical change in the way the Commission examines what the country is doing to fulfil the criteria for membership, especially with regard to respect for human rights and minorities.

The key factor now in determining the fate of Turkey's bid to join the EU sooner rather than later is what Ankara can deliver before Helsinki to secure the full candidate status it so badly desires.

One obvious solution would be for the Turkish government to demonstrate a willingness to discuss the sensitive subjects which it has declared off limits since the fateful Luxembourg summit two years ago.

These include the intractable problem of the divided status of Cyprus, an issue which grows more thorny as the prospect of the island entering the EU draws closer. But despite intense international pres-sure on the Turkish community to try to find a solution to the problem - led by US President Bill Clinton, who raised the subject at a recent meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit - the issue is just too sensitive for Ankara to give anything away at this stage.

Talks with Greece aimed at settling a long-running dispute about who has sovereignty over a number of small islands in the Aegean are slightly more possible.

Sweden and other EU members states would dearly love Ankara to show a willingness to discuss human rights in general and the crucial issue of Kurdish political rights in particular.

This would go a long way towards convincing them to support the Commission's plan at Helsinki.

The problem, as anyone experienced in dealing with Ankara knows, is that Turkish politicians do not like to be seen to be pushed into doing something by outsiders.

Turkey's ambassador to the EU says that Ankara wants to see what is agreed at Helsinki before it makes any concessions on sensitive subjects. “Our assessment will depend on the scope of the opening Turkey is offered at Helsinki,” he insists. Ankara does not even accept that it needs to do anything to win the same treatment as the other candidate countries.

Akyol insists, however, that his government is already making progress on a range of issues of concern to EU countries. He points to a recent meeting between politicians and campaign groups to discuss human rights as an example of where Turkey is making political progress without the Union dictating its agenda. The release from prison of Akin Birdal, former head of the Turkish Human Rights Association, has also been welcomed in the EU, although his case is still under review.

But, as the Commission's latest report on Turkey points out, the country does not meet the Copenhagen criteria for Union membership on human rights and democratisation despite recent progress.

“Torture is not systematic but is still widespread,” states the report, adding that freedom of expression is regularly restricted by the authorities - especially in relation to discussion of the Kurdish issue - and the country's National Security Council gives the military influence over political life.

Even broaching the Kurdish issue with Ankara is problematic because it is seen by the Turkish authorities simply as a matter of fighting terrorism. Politicians in Ankara even bristle at the term 'minority rights', pointing out that the Turkish population is made up of a large number of different ethnic groups. Ethnic identity, even for citizens of Kurdish origin, does not preclude full participation in public life and the Turks point out that many Kurdish citizens hold high office in the administration and even the military.

It remains to be seen if Turkey will ever accept the Kurds' desire for political representation provided they shun terrorism or separatism. But, whatever the final outcome, it will clearly be a long-term process.

There is, however, no doubt EU governments feel they have already moved a long way towards Ankara over the last six months and that the ball is now firmly in Turkey's court if it is to win the coveted prize of full candidate status at Helsinki.