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  • Balkans 2009: Turkey - path of democratisation of the country: EU

    Focus News, Bulgaria
    Jan 3 2010


    Balkans 2009: Turkey - the path of democratisation of the country;
    aspirations for EU membership



    3 January 2010 | 06:36 | FOCUS News Agency



    Life in Turkey in 2009 was marked by a number of important political
    events and processes ` the local elections towards the end of March;
    the revision of the cabinet following the elections; the policy for
    democratisation, which has different aspects but the main one is
    considered the democratic solution of the Kurdish issue, undertaken by
    the ruling Justice and Development Party (JDP); the start of the
    process for normalisation of the bilateral relations with Armenia; the
    EU accession talks; the activation of the Turkish foreign policy
    towards the Middle East, Caucasus, and Russia, as well as the
    pro-European policy and the traditionally good relations with USA. The
    trial against the scandalous organisation Ergenekon, accused in
    preparation of a coup against the ruling JDP, continued in 2009. The
    court started working on the second indictment of the process. A
    verdict is yet to be reached. The suicides of some of the accused in
    made the trial even more scandalous.

    Policy for democratic solution of the Kurdish issue

    2009 will be remembered for the policy for democratisation, orientated
    towards the solution of the Kurdish issue, which was undertaken by the
    ruling JDP. The project of the government for democratic solution of
    the Kurdish issue is called `Kurdish opening' or `democratic opening,'
    in the statements and documents of the cabinet. This was arguably the
    most discussed topic in the country and by the media. According to the
    government, the `democratic opening' policy aims to isolate
    PKK(Kurdistan Workers' Party)'s terrorism, to provide the Kurds in
    Turkey with democratic rights by starting emissions in Kurdish in the
    national TV and radio air, to introduce Kurdish language in the school
    curriculum, as well as Kurdish Philology in universities, to restore
    the Kurdish names of towns and villages in the areas, traditionally
    populated with Kurds, and etc.
    The `Kurdish opening' was the main topic of many government sittings,
    and sittings of the National Security Council of Turkey, in 2009. The
    aim of the government was to discuss all possible aspects of the
    process and the measures that need to be taken in order to receive
    political and public legitimacy. The policy was harshly criticised by
    the opposition ` mainly by the Republican People's Party and the
    Nationalist Movement Party, who reacted strongly about the day,
    scheduled for parliamentary discussion of the `Kurdish opening' `
    November 10. The date coincided with the anniversary of the death of
    Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey and its
    first President.
    PKK announced a truce and a ceasefire, waiting for the actions of the
    government for realisation of the policy. EU praised the `Kurdish
    opening' policy. Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden,
    said at the Turkey - EU Troika meeting held in Istanbul in November,
    that this policy has brought Turkey much closer to EU.
    Groups of Kurds from refugee camps in Northern Iraq started returning
    to Turkey, through the Habur border crossing, in October, as a part of
    the process of democratisation. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
    ErdoÄ?an, however, temporarily stopped the returning of Kurdish
    separatists from Iraq, because of the reception ceremonies and the way
    they were broadcasted, trying to avoid possible tension and
    casualties.

    Turkey - EU

    Egemen BaÄ?ıÅ? was given the position as chief negotiator of Turkey in
    accession talks with the EU, at the start of 2009 when the position
    was separated from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thus prioritising
    Turkey's Eurointegration. Turkey's EU accession process saw two new
    chapters in 2009, despite the positions of major European politicians
    ` like French President Nikolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela
    Merkel, who opposed Turkey's EU accession. The Czech and Swedish
    presidencies in 2009 supported Turkey's EU membership, under the
    condition that the Balkan state fulfilled all necessary requirements.
    The `Taxation' chapter of Turkey's pre-accession talks was opened
    towards the end of the Czech Presidency, while during the Swedish
    Presidency the `Environment' chapter was opened as well. This makes
    the total number of opened chapters ` 12 out of 33.
    The Turkish government actively promote the benefits of Turkey's EU
    accession to the EU representatives. According to Turkey, the fact
    that the country is situated on two continents and is practically a
    bridge between Europe and Asia and the Middle East would turn EU into
    the biggest global player on the international political sphere.
    According to Egemen BaÄ?ıÅ?, Turkey's EU accession would be a positive
    signal not only to the 70 million Turks, but also to the 3 billion
    Muslims, who feel neglected and isolated by Europe. BaÄ?ıÅ? noted that
    Turkey's EU accession, which was filed in back in 1959, was supported
    by all political parties in the East Balkan state.

    Is there a change in the foreign policy orientation of Turkey?

    The Turkish foreign policy made very important steps in 2009. The
    appointment of Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu as Turkey's Minister of Foreign
    Affairs, in the beginning of May, was considered as a positive step of
    Turkey's diplomacy with the Islamic world and closer ties with the
    Middle East. Despite the fact that foreign analysts and media consider
    DavutoÄ?lu as a neo-Ottoman, he rejects such accusations. The Western
    media define the new Turkish foreign minister as `the name that stands
    behind Turkey's closer ties with the Middle East.' One of the main
    priorities, which DavutoÄ?lu announced for his foreign policy, was `No
    problems with the neighbours.' In this connection DavutoÄ?lu increased
    the efforts for normalisation of Turkey's relations with Armenia.
    DavutoÄ?lu also rejected the statements that Turkey has drifted apart
    from the West and has changed the axis of its foreign policy. He
    stated that the axis of Turkey's foreign policy was very clear `
    European orientation and integration of Turkey, and urged the EU not
    to erect new `Berlin walls.'

    New beginning in the Armenia ` Turkey relations

    The process of normalisation of the relations between Turkey and
    Armenia started on September 6 2008 with the visit of Turkey's
    President Abdullah Gül in Yerevan for a football game between Armenia
    and Turkey. 2009 marked a strong diplomatic traffic between the two
    states, criticised by the opposition parties in both countries. The
    Presidents of Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan ` Abdullah Gül, Serzh
    Sargsyan, and Ilham Aliyev had an official meeting in Prague, where
    they discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, which is one of the most
    controversial issue between the three countries. Azerbaijan protested
    when Turkey and Armenia reached a decision to re-open the border
    between the two countries, stating that this should only happen after
    `Armenia stopped its occupation' in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia
    expressed its position on a number of occasions, saying that there
    should be no preset conditions behind the normalisation of the
    Turkish-Armenian relations. The Armenian opposition accused President
    Serzh Sargsyan in betrayal of the cause for recognition of the
    Armenian genocide and about Nagorno-Karabakh, because of the
    established relations with Turkey.
    The protocols for normalisation of the relations between Armenia and
    Turkey were signed on October 10 in Zurich by Turkish Minister of
    Foreign Affairs Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu and his Armenian counterpart Edward
    Nalbandian with a slight delay, because of certain phrases in the
    statements that had to be made after the signing. The agreement, which
    stipulated establishing of diplomatic relations between the two
    countries and extension of the bilateral relations, was defined as a
    `historic' one. US President Barack Obama expressed his satisfaction
    with the historical event, after the ceremony, and stated his support
    behind the process. EU also welcomed the process and expressed hope
    that it would contribute to strengthening and improvement of the ties
    between Armenia and EU.

    Local elections 2009

    One of Turkey's milestones in 2009 was the local elections on March
    29. The global economic crisis and its reflection on Turkey, which was
    seriously affected from the very beginning, played a major part on the
    election results. JDP won around 40% of the votes, which is more than
    7% less than their result from the National Assembly elections on July
    22 2007. According to the opposition and the critics of the
    government, it has failed to take adequate actions as the economic
    crisis was deepening.
    Prime Minster Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an expressed his confidence, before
    the elections, that the global crisis would have a slight effect on
    Turkey. The unemployment in Turkey reached record-high levels of
    between 13.8% and 15.5%, in the first months of 2009. ErdoÄ?an
    promised, after the elections, that the government would quickly adopt
    an anti-crisis programme, and with the revision of the cabinet in the
    beginning of May he aimed at having more control on the economic
    policies of the government. The main fields of the Turkish industry
    like the automobile and textile had a serious downturn, but after the
    anti-crisis measures for temporary reducing and removing of certain
    taxes, the consumption was stimulated, which also had a positive
    effect on the production in the period August ` October. According to
    the economic prognoses, Turkey would recover from the crisis very
    quickly.


    Nevena Gramatikova
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