The history of Ottoman modernization in the 19th century was largely a century of Europeanization. Even the most radical leaders who stood against European imperialism admitted there are good things in Europe such as science and technology. The Turkish Republic was founded upon a European model. And since 1959, Turkey has been seeking full membership in the European Union.
After three centuries of wars, trade, institutional partnership, intellectual influence and migration, is Europe still relevant for Turkey? This can answered only in reference to Europe’s relevance for the world.
Turkey is already integrated into the European economic zone. About 45 percent of Turkey’s foreign trade is with Europe. Thousands of European companies do business in Turkey. Turkey has excellent bilateral relations with most countries in Europe. There are close to 5 million Turks living in Europe. As a NATO member, Turkey is a strategic partner of Europe and the US. Turkey and Europe have a shared outlook on various foreign policy, security and energy issues.
But the weakest link here is EU membership. With so much in common and so much at stake, one wonders what it will take to convince the anti-Turkey camp in Europe. Is it not ironic that EU membership which was supposed to bring Turkey and Europe closer to one another has set the two apart from one another in more than one way?
The de facto rejection of Turkey raises questions beyond a mere membership in the European club. As Europe’s intellectual horizon closes upon itself and its political outlook shrinks, Europe loses its relevance for much of the world. Today’s Europe is mired in its own economic and political problems. Instead of maturing into a family of nations with a common globalist outlook, the EU is looking more like a huge bureaucracy run by technocrats, resented by political leaders and suspected by the citizens.
European democracies are strong and remain a point of reference for other nations of the world. But the intellectual and political climate in Europe is on a downward trend and far from offering a new vision for the 21st century. Economy trumps everything else, relegating politics, culture, civic association and education to a mere lever. But even there most European nations have lost their creativity and competitiveness. The rise of the rest, i.e., China, India, Brazil and other big economies of the world is seriously challenging Europe’s competitive edge.
With Europe turning inward, it loses its relevance for the world. Take as an example the current debate in Europe about multiculturalism, immigration and minority communities. This is not a debate about legislation but about how European nations approach the larger questions of co-existence, identity and cosmopolitanism. This is not just an internal matter for Europe. It has far-reaching implications for Europe’s place in the world.
The trouble is that the debate is shaped largely by right-wing conservative political parties whose political ideology borders on xenophobia and even racism. Contrary to the common perception, this is not just about electoral politics whereby right-wing parties want to score more points. It is about a set of convictions about what Europe is and where it should be headed. And where Europe is headed is far from the Enlightenment ideals of freedom, rationality, fraternity and equality for all.
Democratic, liberal and globalist voices are out there but they are too weak and sidelined by the more sophisticated and passionate agenda of the neocon political movements. Most of them either defend a radical form of libertarianism and thus bypass the societies in which they live or reduce their intellectual presence to an abstract, conceptual debate.
Europe needs a new Enlightenment but one that will have radically different moral and political principles. The Enlightenment reason, which promised emancipation through the discovery of the truth, has become a prisoner of its own myths. The political institutions that have emerged in Europe since the 18th century have not delivered global justice. The self-regulating global capitalism has deepened inequalities and the sense of injustice, breeding radical, extremist movements. Euro-centrism has lost much of its political and economic meaning but remains like a ghost hovering over the minds of many.
As it stands today, Europe is losing its relevance for the world. This is not the end of the West as some futurologists claim. But it is a decisive moment in the history of Europe.
My conclusion: Europe’s relevance for Turkey is proportionate to the extent to which it remains relevant for the world. No more, no less.
