Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ANKARA: 'A civilization project'

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ANKARA: 'A civilization project'

    Turkish Daily News
    Dec 31 2004

    'A civilization project'

    By Gunduz Aktan

    TDN- Germanic Europe, from which Western civilization evolved
    contrary to the Mediterranean basin, was never multi-cultural in the
    sense of being multi-religious. It exterminated the European Jewry
    with the Holocaust, which was the apex of a policy of a thousand
    years of anti-Semitism. The successful implementation of liberal
    democracy and pluralism undoubtedly contributed to the development of
    tolerance, together with economic prosperity. However, it was not
    enough to turn the European Union into a multi-cultural society. The
    EU's civilization project depends on it being multi-cultural.

    After World War II, Europeans, thinking the Holocaust could never be
    repeated, started to bring in laborers from outside. With Central and
    Eastern Europe being behind the Iron Curtain, it had nowhere to turn
    to but the Muslim countries. Either due to imprudence, or believing
    they had changed, or even because they thought they could send back
    those who had come, they welcomed Muslims who were members of the
    other Monotheistic religion. Therein they committed a grave mistake.

    The leader of the German Christian Democrats Angela Merkel said
    recently that the multi-cultural Europe project had failed. Apart
    from a small group, Muslims have not integrated into the parent
    society. Ghettos have become common. The proportion of Muslim inmates
    in prison and among the unemployed has increased dramatically. An
    internal proletariat based on religion and ethnicity has emerged. The
    threat of radical Islamist terrorism has appeared.

    In reaction to these developments, opinions on assimilating, instead
    of integrating the Muslims, are gaining ground in the EU. The
    influence of the extreme rightist and racist parties is increasing.
    Otto Schily is trying to include the Muslims into German culture,
    which he calls `leitkultur.' Nicolas Sarkozy says it would be better
    to introduce the Anglo-Saxon version of secularism to replace the
    French Laicism. Both are talking about desperate projects like
    creating a German and French version of Islam.

    Turkey's membership sits on top of this quagmire. Additionally,
    Turkey is Europe's historical other. Their prejudices against us have
    become pathological. The grave symptoms of this psychology can be
    seen everywhere. They are exaggerating our shortcomings and deflect
    their own deficiencies onto us. Their claims of Armenian genocide and
    the mistreatment of Kurds make relevant the Holocaust and their own
    racist attitude towards Muslims. Because we are backward in an
    essentialist sense, they believe we can never implement the
    democratization reforms and they see us as unfixable. When they say
    `proud nation,' they insinuate that we have no reason to be proud.
    They fear if they include us, the EU will collapse and result in an
    identity loss. While the non-recognition of the other is their own
    problem, they constantly ask us to promote ourselves. By banning the
    freedom of movement, they are trying to tell us that we can live side
    by side in accordance with the Theory of Cultural Relativism, but not
    in an intermingled manner. They neither let us go nor do they
    incorporate us.

    All these give the impression that the EU, by trying to make Turkey a
    member, has bitten off more than it can chew.

    We should understand the EU's view on the Cyprus issue in terms of
    their perspective of the Armenian `genocide' and the Kurdish
    `minority.' They took the decision to make Greek Cyprus a member in
    1995 even without any solution on the island. That's why if we
    satisfy the intransigent Greek Cypriot demands, we will be paying a
    very high price. On the other hand, if we cannot resolve the matter,
    we won't be able to become a member.

    They say they want our membership in order to show that they can live
    in harmony with the Islamic world. However, the biggest fault-line
    between Islam and Christianity is between Turkey and the Greece/Greek
    Cyprus duo with the EU behind them. If we cannot become a member due
    to a pro-Greek stance by anxious EU members the clash between Islam
    and Christianity will deepen.

    Are we going to create harmony by assimilating the Muslims in Europe
    on the one hand and satisfying the lunatic demands of the EU-backed
    Greeks and Armenians on the other?

    A dangerous process has started, not only for us, but also for the
    EU.
Working...
X