A new Berlin Wall

Seattle is in the far north of the West Coast. It is quite surprising seeing such a developed city on the “other side” of the US. Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon and many other well-known companies have their headquarters in this city. Why on earth does Microsoft have its headquarter here? The first thing that comes to mind is the privileged tax system for companies. But local authorities here also tried to explain to us that Seattle has a very strong culture of entrepreneurship which, in their own words, encourages risk taking and rewards success but does not punish failure. My understanding is that the strong local democracy operates like a magnet for big companies, and they feel safe and secure here.

Another surprise was seeing a functioning European Centre at the University of Washington. We learnt that Seattle has very strong commercial ties with the European Union and the EU has become a subject of interest on the West Coast. Since the beginning of our trip to the US I have been observing an interesting attitude amongst my friends from EU countries. I am the only person from Turkey in the group; therefore, normally I should be the one who is supposed to ask such a question, but, quite surprisingly, I realized that my friends are very curious about what Americans think concerning Turkey’s accession to the EU. The same question was asked again and again. “What do you think about Turkey becoming a member of the EU?” Some clever Americans, of course, answered this question with a question, “You are from EU member countries, so it would be interesting to hear your perspective on this.” There is strong support for Turkey’s EU membership at all levels of the US administration there is no doubt about that, but the final word will come from the Europeans themselves.

Turkey’s membership would be the most crucial and difficult decision that the EU has ever taken. There are some legitimate concerns about Turkey’s membership. Turkish democracy and the human rights situation in the country may honestly concern some Europeans. Freedom of expression, the situation of the judiciary and the military’s guardianship are amongst the problems Turkey has not yet fully overcome. However, in the last seven years, Turkey has realized quite exemplary progress in the areas of human rights and democracy. If this is the only concern (and it should be), I think, it would be enough for the EU authorities to make a final declaration such as: “These are the Copenhagen criteria on democracy and human rights. These core principles cannot be negotiated. There will be no concession for Turkey in this regard, and the day Turkey meets these criteria it will be welcomed into the EU club.” I wish there could be such a clear declaration by the EU, which would be a quite good stimulation for the government.

The resistance to Turkey’s membership though, is nothing to do with the democracy and human rights situation in Turkey. Let’s be frank. Turkey is a Muslim country, and for some this is a serious obstacle to Turkey becoming part of the EU. I find this understanding of Europe quite narrow. Negotiations with Europe cannot continue forever, and let’s say in 10 or 15 years the EU will have to give its final word on Turkey’s membership. Whatever the excuse put forward, if the EU rejects Turkey in the end, the whole world will read this as the rejection of Muslim identity by Europe. This would be a cultural-psychological atomic bomb dropped on the whole Muslim world, the consequences of which would be catastrophic. This would be a new Berlin Wall, dividing the world in two. It would be the loss of a huge opportunity to use Turkey as a bridge between continents, as an interpreter between different cultures, as a mediator between East and West. This would be the end of the real Europe, which is supposed to be multicultural, heterogeneous, open minded and a global player.