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SARKOZY IS BAD NEWS FOR ALL OF US
By Mehmet Ali Brand
Turkish Press
May 8 2007
TDN- Sarkozy`s victory in the presidential race is bad news, not only
for Turkey, but also for both France and Europe. Even if he fulfills
only half the promises he made during his campaign, he will further
complicate the balances in Europe and deal a huge blow to Turkey`s
Europe project.
Here is the sentence that sums up Sarkozy`s principle policy:
`Whoever doesn`t love France can leave...`
You may remember that in the second half of the 1990s, the Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) would similarly tell people opposing the state
policy on the Kurdish issue to `love it or leave.`
Sarkozy plans to modernize the French economy to make it work better.
He aims to get back the leadership Paris has lost. While doing this,
he`s set to follow a more conservative, right-wing policy that strains
principles such as human rights and equality for foreigners, and that
accepts foreigners only to the extent that it can make them `French.`
Sarkozy`s clearest policy is to keep Turkey out of Europe. No other
EU country has been so unambiguous. As he sees it, Turkey is an Asian
country. Furthermore, he argues, as its accession to the European
family would upset balances in the EU, it should be kept outside.
Besides all this, he believes Armenians were subjected to a genocide
and so says he will work to have Turkey punished.
These policies will poison Turkish-French relations in the coming
years. France will be branded an enemy of Turks. This polarization
will benefit both the EU opponents in Turkey and Turkey opponents
in Europe. `See how France will veto us. Let`s drop our bid,` our
EU-skeptics will say and increase their opposition. The two groups
will feed on each other. The attempt to exclude Turkey from Europe
will reach a high with Sarkozy.
Ankara`s job will prove to be harder, but it won`t be impossible.
There are three reasons for this: 1. Sarkozy demonstrated that he
couldn`t halt our negotiation process. So wheels will continue to turn
... 2. Nobody can exclude a Turkey which has met the criteria based
only on the reasoning that it is a Muslim country. 3. No government
in Turkey can sever ties with the EU and halt the negotiations.
In sum...
Our job will be harder, but the EU project will not die, as long as
our government takes the necessary steps and completes the reforms.
Sarkozy can`t decide whether Turkey is European or not. We cannot
give him this power.
By Mehmet Ali Brand
Turkish Press
May 8 2007
TDN- Sarkozy`s victory in the presidential race is bad news, not only
for Turkey, but also for both France and Europe. Even if he fulfills
only half the promises he made during his campaign, he will further
complicate the balances in Europe and deal a huge blow to Turkey`s
Europe project.
Here is the sentence that sums up Sarkozy`s principle policy:
`Whoever doesn`t love France can leave...`
You may remember that in the second half of the 1990s, the Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) would similarly tell people opposing the state
policy on the Kurdish issue to `love it or leave.`
Sarkozy plans to modernize the French economy to make it work better.
He aims to get back the leadership Paris has lost. While doing this,
he`s set to follow a more conservative, right-wing policy that strains
principles such as human rights and equality for foreigners, and that
accepts foreigners only to the extent that it can make them `French.`
Sarkozy`s clearest policy is to keep Turkey out of Europe. No other
EU country has been so unambiguous. As he sees it, Turkey is an Asian
country. Furthermore, he argues, as its accession to the European
family would upset balances in the EU, it should be kept outside.
Besides all this, he believes Armenians were subjected to a genocide
and so says he will work to have Turkey punished.
These policies will poison Turkish-French relations in the coming
years. France will be branded an enemy of Turks. This polarization
will benefit both the EU opponents in Turkey and Turkey opponents
in Europe. `See how France will veto us. Let`s drop our bid,` our
EU-skeptics will say and increase their opposition. The two groups
will feed on each other. The attempt to exclude Turkey from Europe
will reach a high with Sarkozy.
Ankara`s job will prove to be harder, but it won`t be impossible.
There are three reasons for this: 1. Sarkozy demonstrated that he
couldn`t halt our negotiation process. So wheels will continue to turn
... 2. Nobody can exclude a Turkey which has met the criteria based
only on the reasoning that it is a Muslim country. 3. No government
in Turkey can sever ties with the EU and halt the negotiations.
In sum...
Our job will be harder, but the EU project will not die, as long as
our government takes the necessary steps and completes the reforms.
Sarkozy can`t decide whether Turkey is European or not. We cannot
give him this power.