Turkey needs a Präsenz Schweiz

Swiss President Pascal Couchepin will come to Turkey on the occasion of the third meeting of the Turkish-Swiss Economic Forum.

The Swiss president met the Turkish media delegation during the Präsenz Schweiz working trip and assured Turkish readers, through the journalists, that Switzerland wants to look to the future -- not to the past -- by means of Turkish-Swiss relations. Couchepin's future-oriented remarks came as a response to the Turkish journalists' questions about the bad reputation of his country in Turkey, a reputation nurtured by the fact that Switzerland refuses to name the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) a terrorist organization and rejects extradition requests of Turkey for renowned terrorists residing in this country. The Swiss president reminded the Turkish delegation that his country does not label any organization, save the ones declared to be so by the UN Security Council, as terrorists. "And that includes only the Nazis and al-Qaeda," he said. Asked about how the Israelis respond to the fact that Switzerland does not designate organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad as terrorists, he explained, "Israel is not always happy with us, and we are not always happy with Israel," adding, "But this does not prevent us from loving that country."

A second issue that was voiced in the meeting between the Turkish delegation and the Swiss president was the infamous anti-racism law in Switzerland that penalizes denial of the alleged genocide against the Armenians of Anatolia at the beginning of the 20th century. A citizen of Turkey has already been convicted of this so-called crime and another case is still pending. The Swiss president claimed that the genocide law was a judicial issue and not a political one. Couchepin said the law was originally passed in reference to the genocide against the Jews during World War II. "But the judiciary has the authority to interpret the laws, and judges decided that this law should apply to the events of 1915, also," he explained. The Swiss president noted that his country's official position on the genocide claim is that history belongs to the historians. "The historians have to find a common interpretation for these tragic events," Couchepin said.

Despite the tense question-and-answer session, the Swiss president's visit with the Turkish media delegation was able to impress the Turks. The president was apparently well informed about how to appeal to the hearts of the Turks, and he accordingly told the Turkish delegation about his prior visits to various Turkish cities and how impressed he was by Turkey's natural environment and history. Commenting on Switzerland's position on the Ilısu Dam -- a controversial dam project that will leave one of the oldest human settlements in the world submerged under water and will, if certain obstacles are overcome by Turkey, be financed by Germany, Austria and Switzerland -- he said Turkey is a country that does not lack history and archeology even in one inch of its lands, and thus it has to make a decision about its priorities. The president thereby both explained his country's willingness to support the project and win the hearts of the Turkish delegation. 

The trip featured several other important meetings that aimed to introduce the Turkish journalists to the seemingly complex and difficult-to-grasp political system of Switzerland. The journalists met with former Swiss Parliament Speaker Christine Egerszegi, who gave a brief lecture on the working procedures of lawmaking in her country. Ms. Egerszegi commented on a recent public initiative to pass a law banning the construction of minarets in Switzerland. "If you are able to collect 110,000 signatures to call for a referendum, you can suggest any law you want. If you want that all the doors in Switzerland should be painted blue and if you have enough signatories, you can do that. That will be put to a referendum," she explained. The Federal Council and the parliament are not altogether silent in the face of public-initiated lawmaking processes, but their reports can only play an advisory role to help the public decide how to vote. The Federal Council decided that the public initiative was valid because building minarets is not related to the freedom of conscience, but the council warned that banning minarets could be a nullification of the freedom of expression of a faith.

As the visit of the Swiss president coincided with the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Swiss Embassy in Ankara, the Turkish delegation also received a lecture by Ambassador Christian Meuwly about the past 80 years of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Turkey. Ambassador Meuwly is head of the Europe and Central Asia Division of the Political Directorate of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, and his division covers Turkey. During his presentation Ambassador Meuwly reminded the Turkish journalists of a statement by Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey: "The relations between Switzerland and Turkey are good and solid and based on a long and rich tradition." Ambassador Meuwly also read the first article of the first-ever treaty of friendship between Switzerland and Turkey, signed in Geneva in September 1925: "There shall be established inviolable peace and sincere and perpetual friendship between the Swiss Confederation and the Turkish Republic, as also between the nationals of the two states." The Turkish-Swiss friendship treaty was second only to the Turkish-Polish friendship treaty that was signed in Lausanne during the Lausanne Treaty negotiations in 1924. Asked about the extradition of PKK terrorists to Turkey, Ambassador Meuwly said that the extradition process is working fully and that several PKK terrorists arrested in Switzerland had been extradited to Turkey. Meuwly didn't give any numbers or particular names, but assured the Turkish journalists that the two countries' ministries of justice are cooperating fully on the issue and that the Turkish side is satisfied with the results.

Präsenz Schweiz had cleverly booked the Château d'Ouchy for the Turkish media delegation to stay in Lausanne. Château d'Ouchy is the place where the negotiations for the Lausanne Treaty took place. During their stay in Lausanne the Turkish delegation received lectures on the new Constitution of the Swiss Confederation and the country's supreme court. Professor Luzius Mader told the Turkish journalists about the process through which the new constitution had been prepared. The process took some 30 years and the public was fully enabled to contribute. Mader was himself an influential figure in the preparation of the final draft of the constitution. He explained how the committees working on the new constitution adapted certain principles along the way about the use of an understandable language. The fact that terms "secular" and "secularism" never appear in the constitution attracted the attention of the Turkish delegation. Asked whether the Swiss Constitution has any "untouchable articles" Professor Mader replied in the negative and added, "You have to trust the people."

Another principle adapted by the constitution-preparation committees was that of "adequate normative density." This meant giving the appropriate amount of place and emphasis to issues in the constitution. According to the information provided by Mader, the former Swiss Constitution had five pages of articles on alcoholic beverages, their preparation, marketing and even consumption. "The new constitution has only two articles about alcohol, and they say that the confederation is responsible for making the legal regulations about alcohol production and that while doing so the confederation shall in particular take into account the harmful effects of alcohol consumption," Mader said.

During their stay in Switzerland, the Turkish media delegation visited Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Turkish Ambassador to Switzerland Alev Kılıç, the headquarters of Nestlé and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), where Swiss researchers are applying the state-of-art technology of proton therapy for treatment of cancer tissues.

The overall message of the trip organized by Präsenz Schweiz was summarized in the very personality of the guide for the trip, Dr. Sibylle Ambühl. Dr. Ambühl is the wife of the state secretary of the Swiss Confederation and guides foreign delegations to Switzerland. With her humble manners and punctual programming, Ambühl managed to give the Turkish delegation the sense of "European-ness" and the vision of establishing a similar agency for Turkey.

Präsenz Schweiz is the organization that coordinates the Swiss presence all over the world. It links Swiss organizations from the fields of business, politics, culture, tourism, sports and youth in a single network in order to promote the image of Switzerland worldwide. The organization was first established to break the negative image created in the 1990s when historical documents proved that Switzerland had been unable to maintain its neutrality during World War II and had a certain amount of responsibility in the atrocities perpetuated against the Jews during the war. A diplomat from Präsenz Schweiz told Sunday's Zaman that his organization supplies the missions of the Swiss Confederation all over the world with know-how and financing for cultural activities that will promote Switzerland's image.

Präsenz Schweiz publishes booklets about Switzerland in several languages, including Turkish, and runs a Web site at swissworld.org, a gateway to Switzerland. There is no turkishworld.org or .com yet.