Ten years ago, everything that was said or done in Europe was observed with great interest by many Turks because most believed Turkey was on its way to become a member of the EU. That euphoria did not last long, and already after five years, serious doubts set in whether membership would ever materialize. For understandable reasons, many Turks started to question the sincerity of Turkey-bashing European politicians. Over the last couple of years there has been a clear mood swing to the other extreme: Europe is seen as being in unstoppable economic decline and moral decay, and that is why Turkey should stop bothering and continue on its own glorious journey as an emerging global power. Exit Europe.
Amidst all this volatility, it is always nice to hear someone put things in the proper perspective. Last week, former Turkish minister and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) head Kemal Derviş showed why he is considered by so many at home and abroad as one of Turkey’s leading intellectuals. Derviş spoke at a panel discussion on Turkey-EU relations and basically made three points.
One is that the EU is changing and this transformation into a more flexible organization offers new opportunities for Turkey to become a full member but with special arrangements. Secondly, he called on the EU to change strategy and rhetoric because, according to Derviş, Turkey has reached a point where it can no longer stand all this talk about bars and conditions.
But it was his third point that I liked most. He stressed that the EU is still important for Turkey, also in its relations with the Arab word: “Turkey is strong and influential because it is part of the European family and is already integrated with Europe. Without the EU dimension, Turkey would be just another Middle Eastern country and would have a weaker influence.”
For Derviş, the EU remains an attractive model: “The EU’s achievement is impressive. It has created a zone of peace and multinational decision-making mechanisms, a market economy with strong social policies.”
When I came home after his speech, I was immediately reminded of the fact that Derviş’s global vision on Europe is not shared by other renowned Turkish intellectuals. In his column in Today’s Zaman of that same day, İbrahim Kalın tried to show that Europe is losing its relevance for much of the world. Kalın is one of the chief advisers of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and someone who is very influential in shaping the views of the prime minister on the rest of the world.
According to Kalın, the problem with Europe goes far beyond the present economic crisis. The continent is no longer able to live up to its own standards of freedom, rationality and equality for all. Main example: the debate in Europe on multiculturalism and migration that -- as Kalın sees it -- is totally dominated by the extreme right. Let me focus on this argument because it often pops up in debates in Turkey on Europe. To be honest, I think it is a typical example of not being able to see the forest for the trees.
Yes, there is a serious problem in Europe with racism and rising Islamophobia as a result of mass migration and the growing fear for the negative effects of companies and people moving from one country to another. It will take time, patience and political courage to overcome this polarization. But it is a big mistake to suggest that the majority of Europeans agrees with the anti-Muslim populists (they don’t, look at the election results) or that Europe is the only place in the world where migration and globalization have created these kind of problems (look at the US or the horrible treatment of Asian migrants in the Gulf states).
These are the new global challenges of the 21st century. To single out the EU for extra scrutiny may be popular these days, but I think people like Kalın should be more careful and focused in their criticism and not indulge in these kinds of sweeping statements. Or is he preparing the ground intellectually for a political move away from the EU that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is contemplating?
