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Vural Öger, German Socialist MEP "Objective considerations are in Turkey's advantage where as subjective considerations are in its disadvantage..." The EU-Turkey relations are of great importance to me. It is my intention to contribute towards improving this relationship during my term at the European Parliament. There are prejudices in both sides. I believe that I can play a mediating role to pass on the European values to Turkey and, reciprocally communicate Turkey's pro-blems and opinions back to the EU. As a Democrat MEP, I intend to participate in all projects that are in accordance with the neo-liberal rules and that bring forward the equality of chances and the humanist values of Europe. In my opinion, the citizens' satisfaction is the main priority. At the European Parliament, the fact that I am of Turkish origin is considered an asset to some and a drawback to others. A fraction of the Christian-Democrats is wondering what "a member of Turkish origin is doing there!", and have generally an ethnic-based approach. However, this approach does not exist in the Green or Socialist groups. I regard these attitudes as normal for having faced them before in my professional life. I believe that my achievements and perfor-mances will overcome any potential doubts. I have noticed that there are many discussions taking place in the political sphere, especially in Brussels. I prefer action over discussion. Therefore, it is through my actions that I want to prove to those who supported me, that they have made the right choice. Also, I will prove to those opposing me that they have prejudice. Some people consider me as a Turkish MEP and others as a German one... I am a German MEP of Turkish origin. I often repeat that " I am a German MEP, but Turkey is not for me like Argentina or Bulgaria. There is a great country, Turkey, where I was born. I am, of course, very interested in Turkey. I was elected by Germans, many of whom are of Turkish origin. Consequently, I will be involved in looking for solutions to the problems that these people may have. I will try to make common positions evolved within the EU on the subjects of integration, immigration and asylum. I will be especially sensitive to questions relating to foreigners' integration in the EU, the problems experienced by the second-generation of immigrants and providing immigrants the same rights as EU citizens. There is a lot to do to further the mutual knowledge and acceptance of cultures. A conviction deducted from my observations in Germany and Brussels is that Turkey will have the green light in December to start the accession negotiations. There will not be any further requirement: Turkey will obtain a date. When discussing with the Christian-Democrats regarding the objective reasons that favour Turkey's membership, they have great difficulty in finding an adequate reply for opposing this decision. I define this relationship as following: "objective considerations are in Turkey's advantage where as subjective considerations are in its disadvantage."
I would like to reply to those saying that "Turkey is not European", please come and let us define together what Europe is. I would like to ask them: "What is Europe?" . It is only after having found a definition that we can determine whether Turkey is European or not. We will not go anywhere unless we have a common definition and people do not have so many different definitions in mind. For some people, Europe is Charlemagne's Europe. In that case, the continent would be limited to France, Germany and the Benelux... In fact, today's Europe is not merely Catholic and Protestant; it also encompasses Orthodox elements. It is not a Europe from the past, but a new Europe - an entity based on the union of values. No nation has instantaneously gained the rights to which it refers. These are values gained through centuries of wars between nations or religions. Democracy, human rights, minority rights, equality between men and women... these are constitutional values developed throughout centuries of experience. Why is it not possible for a Muslim country to hold this set of values? These are not Christian features only. If Orthodox countries like Bulgaria, Romania and Greece are or will become EU member states, there is no reason why Turkey should not be also! Turkey is a secular country under a republican regime since 1923 and which carried out important reforms at the end of the 1920s: Turkey based its civil law on the Swiss law, its trade law on the German one and its criminal law on the Italian one. Such a country will always have its place in Europe. However, the concepts developed around the Enlargement process are political ones. If it is desired politically, new countries can then become EU member states. In this sense, Turkey's accession to the EU does not depend on determining if the country is European or not, but on a political choice. Any European country can apply for membership. And the member states of the Council of Europe are European. Some declarations by the Christian-Democrats like "If we accept Turkey, we should also accept Morocco" are totally demented. Morocco has never been a member of the Council of Europe. Others have added that "if Turkey becomes an EU member state then we will have a border with Iraq and Syria". So what? NATO is already bordering these countries. NATO is an union of values, and the Western values have been defended along that border. There is no reason why such a valuable member state at the defense level cannot be part of the same union, politically. In my opinion, the EU should consider itself as a bloc to the dimension of the European continent that has common values which also includes Turkey...we do not want to remain in the current situation, being "big economically" and "small politically". We are able to become a big player at the international level like the EU, China, Japan and Russia. We have thus to become strong economically, politically and militarely. In fact, the EU cannot reach the level it contemplates without including Turkey. We are all conscious that the EU was unable to solve the conflict in the Balkans and lacked political unity during the Iraq crisis. It should be with awareness, and with a good knowledge of Turkey as well as thinking big and strategically that we should stand at Turkey's side. We can avoid a potential conflict with the Muslim world by including Turkey. At the end of the year, an historical decision will be taken, an event to tell in history books centuries later...If as a union of values, we accept Turkey- a Muslim country - we will improve our relationship with the Muslim world so greatly that any potential conflict will certainly be prevented. The decision to be taken is historical, we must be conscious of it. Emine Bozkurt Dutch Socialist MEP What is your opinion about the possibility of opening accession negotiations with Turkey at the end of 2004? : I would like to say two things on that: Firstly, the practical way is that we have to wait for the report of the EU Commission which will appear in October or November. There will be a report on the progress of Turkey on the Copenhagen criteria. Our party, the Social Democrat Party in the Netherlands does want to have Turkey in the EU and to start the negotiations. But of course, Turkey -same as the other countries - should fulfil the criteria and especially the first criteria which is very important; that is the criteria of democracy and they will test this first criteria in December. And as it seems, at the moment, it is very probable that they will say that the negotiations will start. But the other thing is what you want as a political party, and our party, the Dutch Social Democrat Party looks at it from a very positive perspective to have Turkey in, but firstly they have to fulfil the criteria. We have a real division in the world with the Western countries on one side and the Muslim countries on the other side. You can see in the current debate that they are tearing apart and it should be a really interesting project to have a country which has a population of nearly ninety-eight percent which is Muslim with a strong democracy and a strong economy within the Union …so you have a good mix. It is good for Turkey but also good for the EU to have a strong Turkey especially for the Middle East as it should have a positive influence in that region.