In an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman, Babacan highlighted the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as the only party that has the sufficient will and power for making further drastic reforms, adding: "We have a very strong will to pass over these problems, these gloomy troubles, and we feel the need to do this with every fiber of our being. Of course, we will not run at it like an elephant in a china shop. We will do it by acting with judgment, by choosing the best timing and without giving up on that final goal. And there is nobody who can do this if we don't do it."
While pledging that the AK Party aims to make Turkey one of the 10 biggest economies in the world by 2023, Babacan said the Turkish stock exchange has seen greater rises compared both to developing and developed countries. He, however, noted with regret that the growth in the stock exchange had been favorable until the e-memorandum of April 27, which caused a 12.5 percent drop that has yet to be compensated for. "Unfortunately, we've missed this positive trend because of April 27," he said, referring to the news that the Dow Jones index saw a historical high at 14,000.
Stressing that the EU characteristic of being an external anchor is particularly important for the Turkish economy, he said, "The EU goal has turned Turkey into a country with a foreseeable future with its strengthening confidence and stability."
Despite experiencing the “France syndrome” in the first half of 2007, Turkey has managed to keep its European Union accession process on track by having talks opened on three chapters of 35 policy areas in only three months, from the end of March to the end of June, according to State Minister and Turkey’s chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan.
Babacan, speaking in an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman only days ahead of the July 22 elections, seemed confident. He was also excited when talking about his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) determination and will for moving ahead with reforms after July 22, saying they are the only political party with the sufficient will and power to make additional reforms.
“The first half of 2007 was occupied by the French presidential elections, and almost every day the people had to listen to why Turkey should not be let in the EU. This came especially from Mr. [Nicolas] Sarkozy, who is now president of France, a nation esteemed by the public in Turkey as a country of freedoms from which we took the notion of republic,” Babacan answered in response to a question about whether 2007 was a lost year for the ruling party in regard to the EU reform process.
“This situation led to a loss of trust in the EU among the population as we have experienced a grave France syndrome in our relations over the last six months,” Babacan added.
“If you look at the process on the basis of chapters, the first chapter we opened and closed was back in June 2006. However, we were unable to proceed for nine months due to handicaps related to the Cyprus issue. Only after the Cyprus issue was this way or that way and tied up to a temporary decision were we able to pass to technical studies and eventually open the industry policy chapter, in March 2007, followed by two more chapters in June. So when you look at progress in a technical light, we have been able to open three chapters in three months’ time, from March to June. This is not half-bad progress,” Babacan said, though he admitted the government would naturally like to have made more rapid progress during this period of time.
Ending a long hiatus, the EU began negotiations with Turkey in late March on the enterprise and industry policy chapter -- the second area Ankara has managed to open since one on science and research in June 2006. In late June the bloc opened talks on two chapters with Turkey, namely financial control and statistics, while France blocked the economy and monetary policy chapter despite positive suggestions from term president Germany and the European Commission.
Displaying it as a concrete basis for his confidence that the accession process is on track, Babacan said Ankara received an official invitation last Friday from the European Commission regarding opening of one more chapter on consumer and heath protection. “We’re currently drafting our negotiation position paper, and we will send it to the commission shortly,” he added, voicing Ankara’s expectation of having a few more chapters opened during Portugal’s six-month EU presidency.
“There has been no lapse in our efforts concerning domestic technical reforms. On the contrary, we are moving ahead at full speed. There are, of course, issues concerning the opening of new chapters due to political relations, and it is a reality that certain countries are slowing this process down,” Babacan said while displaying a detailed 400-page program for Turkey’s harmonization with the EU over the next seven years. The program was unveiled by the government in April as a concrete sign of Ankara’s commitment to transform the country as part of its EU membership bid, irrespective of whether that bid eventually proves to be successful.
At the time of release Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül and Babacan jointly announced “Turkey’s Program for Harmonizing with the EU Acquis,” described by Gül then as “a living document” since its content will change and be improved according to Turkey’s needs.
An external anchor, great potential and Turkey’s economy
When reminded of the fact that both he and Gül have insisted in the past that Turkey needs external dynamics for making certain reforms otherwise impossible given its own dynamics, and asked whether there was a change in this perspective since he put so much emphasis on Turkey’s own initiative for making reforms, Babacan clearly ruled out such an argument. “Even looking at the name of the program, you’ll see that there is an external anchor that we take as a basis, and we constantly update our knowledge of this anchor. … Thus we have set EU standards as the criteria we want to reach for upgrading the quality of life of our people,” he said.
Babacan believes the EU’s characteristic of being an external anchor is particularly important for Turkey’s economy. “The EU goal has changed Turkey and given it potential with its strengthening confidence and stability. People find the answer to the question ‘What kind of Turkey will we see in five or 20 years?’ in the EU process. Foreign investment in Turkey wouldn’t be this high if we didn’t have the goal of full membership,” he said.
Babacan said Ankara doesn’t aspire to EU membership solely for the title because, unlike certain Balkan or eastern European countries, it doesn’t feel obliged to belong to a certain bloc or group. He also underlined the importance of Turkey’s EU process in regard to its regional impacts.
“When we ask those people from New Zealand or Australia interested in Turkey’s EU bid why it is a concern for them, they reply: ‘If Turkey succeeds in its integration with the EU and in becoming a country where Islam, democracy and secularity can live together, this will also increase stability in our neighbors such as the Philippines and Indonesia,’” he said.
Babacan’s use of the words “Islam, democracy and secularity” in one sentence, after remarks highlighting “external anchor,” inevitably brings to mind the fact that an unusually strong Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) statement on April 27 (in which it asserted its position as the defender of the republic’s secular system) openly revealed the need for an external anchor for democratization.
Following April 27, Turkey cannot remain a third-class democracy forever, he said.
Which class of democracy?
“The level of democracy varies from one country to another. Around the world there are countries which have one-party systems and still call themselves democratic. Thus there should be a benchmark for us in order to compare ourselves with what we want to become. We want to have a first-class democracy which functions within the framework of the EU and Copenhagen political criteria in order to comfortably call Turkey a democratic country,” Babacan said.
The current question among the public is, given the April 27 e-memo and its five years of experience in office, what kinds of reforms will the AK Party be capable of making.
“Let me explain this with a metaphor. There is a game being played on the pitch and you change the rules during the game. It is natural that it takes time for some players to learn the new rules. We have yet more rules to adopt and implement, and this will take place step-by-step. We will have to make use of windows of political opportunity that are opened along those political cycles, of which we have still more to experience. What matters is not missing these windows of political opportunity that are opened during those political cycles in which we have to act more quickly,” Babacan said.
When asked if there is any window of opportunity open at the moment, he simply replied: “Only after the elections, after seeing the picture in Parliament and after electing our new president will I be able to give you more concrete details.”
“But what I can comfortably tell you is that we must have proven our determination for political reforms to date. No one should have doubts,” Babacan added.
Referring to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s imprisonment in 1999 for reciting a poem at a public rally in Siirt that was deemed to violate Article 312 of the old penal code, Babacan said the AK Party knew well the value of freedom of expression.
“We have a very strong will to deal with problems, and we feel the need to do this with every fiber of our being. Of course we will not go about it like an elephant in a china shop. We will do it by acting with judgment, by picking the best timing and without giving up that final goal. And there is nobody else who can do this if we can’t. With the exception of some small parties who have no more than 3 or 5 percent of the vote, there is no political party with either the power or the will to make such reforms. We don’t see the same sincerity in other political parties,” Babacan remarked.
When asked whether the existence of the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) which designates as a criminal offense the denigration of “Turkishness” -- under which slain journalist Hrant Dink was also charged -- was a burden for the government as the trial of Dink’s murderer continued, Babacan only said: “I believe you can easily assume my government’s opinion by looking at my latest words. I believe that speaking further of Article 301 would not be wise right now.”
‘Even small-time dealers can make better calculations’
State Minister and Turkey’s chief European Union negotiator Ali Babacan unequivocally dismissed claims by the opposition parties that the country’s foreign debts amounted to $500 billion.
Babacan noted that foreign debt calculations are made according to standard methods everywhere in the world; however the opposition, he said, had added the foreign debts of the private sector to those of the public sector, and had even added public internal borrowing. “Turkey’s net public borrowing stock is $183 billion. Of this figure, $21 billion is foreign debt and the remainder is internal borrowing.” He added, “Even small-time dealers can make better calculations.”
When asked whether he is accusing the opposition of making calculations like a small-time dealer, he said: “Even small-time dealers do not make their calculations in that way. If they do, they will go bankrupt.”
What is important in foreign borrowing is the ratio of borrowing to national income, Babacan said adding that it was a great success for Turkey to keep this figure around 27 percent while it is 43 percent in the United States and 96.4 percent in Japan.
In terms of national income, Turkey ranked as the 15th and sixth biggest economy in the world and in Europe, respectively, last year, he said. “We are planning to become one of the 10 biggest economies in the world by 2023. With respect to the Gini coefficient, which is used for comparison purposes in income distribution, Turkey has performed better than other developing countries. In rapidly developing countries, the Gini coefficient rises. Yet we have managed to keep it at low levels at all times. In other words, while we are growing at a rate of 7 percent, we are simultaneously ensuring fairer income distribution. On the other hand, in some countries like Russia, numerous upstarts are seen,” Babacan said.
Also, in charts used to highlight comparisons of income distribution, showing population groups that earn less than $1 and $2 daily, Turkey manages well, he suggested. “While the population group that earns less than $1 daily has become almost extinct in Turkey, in Brazil and Mexico -- which are wealthier than Turkey in terms of total national income and per capita national income -- 8 percent of the population earn less than $1 daily, and 20 percent of the population earn less than $2 daily,” he said. Additionally, he emphasized that only 1.6 percent of the Turkish population earns less than $2 daily. “Turkey not only grows, but also grows uninterruptedly, with a high rate and in a way to affect all income groups.”
Babacan said that the Turkish stock exchange has seen greater rises compared both to developing and developed countries, adding that the growth in the stock exchange had been particularly favorable until the “e-memorandum” of April 27, which caused a 12.5 percent drop which is yet to be compensated for. “Unfortunately, we’ve missed this positive trend because of April 27,” he said, referring to the news that Dow Jones saw a historical high at 14,000.
Referring to the Financial Times story about certain brokers who declared they would vote for the Republican People’s Party (CHP), although they actually preferred the continuation of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in government, he said: “This is a grave contradiction. This implies lack of proper thought and ideological preoccupation. Unfortunately ideology so preoccupies minds that rationality is repressed. Voting for a party that inflicts crisis after crisis on Turkey while wishing for the AK Party government is ironic.”
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