WE DON’T HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE

The article titled “We don’t have to make a choice” of the Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator, Egemen Bagis was published in the Yeni Safak newspaper. 

Bagis stated that there was no deviation from the EU target of Turkey and he added: “EU, which is currently subjecting Turkey to a test of tolerance and endurance, needs to be aware that it too is facing a test of its sincerity regarding Turkey’s EU membership.” In his Article, Bagis wrote:

“Turkey’s EU integration process as a strategic objective and vision has been on-going for nearly half a century.

Turkey’s EU perspective is the best reflection of the peaceful, multifaceted and progressive nature of Turkey’s foreign policy.

Furthermore, through its geographical location, civilization and historical experience, Turkey is a bridge that connects wide regions of the world, possessing the richness and tolerance not often granted many other countries.

Turkey is both an eastern and a western country. It is both European and Asian. Turkey is a Middle Eastern, Balkan, Mediterranean and Black Sea country one and at the same time..

Turkey is an unusual country that is not only currently carrying out membership negotiations with the EU but also is an active NATO member and a member of the OIC, G-20, D-8, OSCE, BSEC, OECD, and WTO, among many other regional and international organisations.

Confining Turkey’s foreign policy to a certain axis and interpreting any movement away from it as a shift in this axis is an inaccurate and incomplete analysis of Turkey’s foreign policy.

Furthermore, such an approach means a rejection of Turkey’s history and future.

For Turkey, there are no concerns vis a vis such an axis.

Turkey will always continue to take the necessary steps necessitated by its strategic preferences and principles of foreign policy, especially where these coincide.

We expected the evaluations of our Prime Minister regarding the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to have been addressed within this framework.

However, some columnists’ attitudes, confusing the wheat with the chaff, has shifted the focus of the issue, resulting in a discussion that is placed far from addressing the potential and the strengths of Turkey.

Whereas even individuals and institutions whom were addressed by our Prime Minister could fully appreciate that Turkey could concurrently cooperate with different regions and alliances, the inability of some foreign policy columnists in Turkey to comprehend this is rather thought-provoking.

THE EU HAS ALSO DECIDED TO COOPERATE WITH THE SCO

The EU has close economic, political, commercial and social relations with Russia, the U.S.A, China and Eurasian countries and emphasises maintaining these relations.

In addition, the EU decided to enhance its relations with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2012.

Furthermore, the following statement of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO Secretary General, should be read carefully: ‘Turkey has a key and strategic role in the relations with countries in Central Asia and the Middle East due to its geographical location. Therefore, I see no conflict on this matter. Being a NATO ally and having policies that extend to other regions or countries in the world at the same time is not a conflict for NATO.’

If there is no conflict between being a NATO ally or carrying out negotiations with the EU and extending to other regions in the world for NATO, then neither is there a conflict for Turkey; In fact, it is Turkey’s location, heritage as a crossroads of civilisations and state tradition that imply these relations. An approach positing that Turkey’s relations with different alliances and international organisations are alternatives to or substitutes for one another can only be based in faulty reasoning.

Our Prime Minister has addressed the matter in detail during his visit to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

DEVIATION FROM THE EU TARGET IS OUT OF QUESTION

It is out of question for Turkey to move away for its objective of EU membership.

However, the double standards that the EU has imposed only on Turkey for the past fifty-four years, as well as the lengthiness of accession process, continue to test Turkey’s endurance.

When the Council of Europe was established following World War II, the Committee of Ministers first invited Turkey for membership.

Turkey became a member of the COE in 1949 whereas Spain and Portugal joined this organisation only by the end of 1970 and the Central and Eastern European countries in the 1990’s.

Three years after the establishment of NATO, Turkey became a member of this organisation in 1952, three years earlier than Germany.

It is a paradox that Turkey, a part of the joint struggle of Europe as a NATO member, is still not an EU member.

WE EXPECT SINCERITY FROM THE EU

The EU, which is currently subjecting Turkey to a test of tolerance and endurance, needs to be aware that it too is facing a test of its sincerity regarding Turkey’s EU membership.

The EU needs to recall its commitments to Turkey vis a vis the documents that it has signed.

Today, we face the truth that it is the EU which needs Turkey, rather than Turkey’s need for the EU.

TURKEY IS ONE OF THE ARTERIES OF THE MODERN WORLD

Turkey offers a unique opportunity for resolving the problems faced by humanity not only on a regional but also on a global scale.

As a secular, democratic and social state under the rule of law, Turkey, with its predominantly Muslim population, has been the strongest advocate for the calls for peace and tolerance in its wider region, and these calls have been met with favourable responses to a great extent.

This original model of Turkey constitutes an essential part of the vision which we believe that the EU should adopt in the 21st century.

Turkey has already proven that it is not a country which will be a burden on the EU but a country which will share the burden of the EU.

Enlargement is the best option for the EU, which is currently undergoing economic and political crisis, and Turkey is the strongest link in this enlargement.

It may be useful to recall once again that…

Our relations with the European Union are not an obstacle to Turkey’s developing its cooperation with other organisations.

While advancing determinedly in the EU process, Turkey also continues to develop its relations with various regions and countries within the framework of its multifaceted foreign policy.

If the world were a global city, then Turkey certainly would be one of the main “arteries” of this new city”.

Source: http://yenisafak.com.tr/yorum-haber/tercih-yapmak-zorunda-degiliz-07.02.2013-480339