Speaking with Today’s Zaman, she described the fight against corruption as “an umbrella issue.” “If you provide a corruption-free environment, then you can start dealing with all other institutions to provide accountability,” she said.

Last Monday the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) released the Third National Program, a long-awaited EU reform package. Commenting on the program, she said the document anticipates an inspection mechanism of public administration. “We need … increasing transparency at every level of public administration.” she said.

For Monday Talk, Göğüş assessed the program and elaborated on the issues -- from the political arena, to women’s issues, to the environment.

There are no surprises

What is your general evaluation of the release of Turkey’s Third National Program in regards to the European Union accession process?

First of all, that Turkey has reached this stage is a big step, so we need to appreciate and celebrate it. What the package consists of is a different matter to be discussed. Some areas could have been better covered in the national program, but it is an important document covering many topics, from political criteria to financial matters. The national program has been released to the ministries and other public offices so that gaps can be filled. We need to take advantage of this process and voice our demands. Regarding such documents, it is common in Turkey to pick and choose certain topics, but ignore the rest. I think we should look at the document carefully and examine the whole forest, rather than a few trees.

Are you referring to the emphasis on Turkey reorganizing its civilian-military relations?

Of course it is an important area to look at, but by just looking at that part of the planned reforms, we may miss other important topics. Many reforms in regards to civilian-military relations have already started. We know that the previous national program that the government prepared in 2004 has limited the once-powerful National Security Council [MGK, a body that essentially institutionalized the military’s control over Turkish politics] to an advisory role, and removed military members from key political bodies. What we see different this time specifically relates to changes in laws so that military spending can be audited.

So you say there are no surprises in the program…

There should not be because when Turkey applied to be a full member of the European Union, it accepted the EU’s conditions for becoming a member, and therefore it has been harmonizing its laws and regulations with the EU’s. So the national plan presents a roadmap for this purpose and it tells Turkey what it needs to do and how it should do it.

What do you think about the timing of the release of the Third National Program?

The government has been expected to prepare such a program. There have been doubts about the government’s intentions regarding EU membership because the reforms were slowed after the 2004 elections. By finally releasing the program, the government has met expectations.

When you first looked at the national plan detailing the reforms, you immediately noticed the title regarding anti-corruption efforts. Why?

This is an area that hurts Turkey the most. We sometimes think that some of our other problems -- such as human rights, political rights, freedom of thought, etc. -- block our way to membership. But the fact that Turkey lags so far behind when it comes to the fight against bribery and corruption seriously lowers Turkey’s status before the EU. We need to fight against corruption to instill the public with a sense of trust of the state. We have a serious corruption problem, which prevents Turkish society from becoming a confident society. I think that fighting against corruption is even more important than civilian-military relations in Turkey because the anti-corruption issue is an umbrella issue. If you provide a corruption-free environment, then you can start dealing with all other institutions to provide accountability.

Could you be more specific on the anti-corruption measures; for example, are there sections in the government’s third harmonization package to provide it?

In the Third National Program, there is a section related to the functionality of the public administration. The program anticipates an inspection mechanism of the public administration. So we can think of this as among the measures against corruption. No matter civilian or military, that is what we need: increasing transparency at every level of the public administration. There is also a measure for military accountability in the program. It involves regulations, including legal changes, to audit all Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] expenditures, and that requires a change in the Constitution, and then another change in the Court of Accounts Law to check all military spending. So these planned changes are harmonious with the EU norms.

Shall we look at examples in the EU states to organize or reorganize certain institutions in Turkey? For example, is there an example in the EU that would shed light on Turkey’s civilian-military complexities?

It is not right to compare Turkey with any other state in the EU. Even the paradigm that we call the European social model differs among different states in many areas. So when you change the course of civilian-military relations, you reach different results in Turkey compared to other states in the EU. In addition, there are psychological and behavioral factors in the society. You may pass many laws and regulations and even change the Constitution, but until the society reaches a certain maturity level and develops a certain mentality, you cannot see the results of the reforms. We cannot see the results from one day to the other. So the idea that the European Union membership requires a mentality revolution is quite right. So before this mentality reform occurs, I expect problems in the acceptance and implementation of the national program.

What type of problems do you expect? How do you think the opposition will act?

We have a serious problem regarding the opposition in Turkey. The problem stems both from the election system in Turkey and from a lack of unity on the left. Turkey is in a big process of change with urbanization, which influences politics. This process of change also determines which political party will have more success in the elections. In Parliament we see the Republican People’s Party [CHP] as the opposition, and it wavers about EU membership. It is ironic that when we look at the European social model, it is the social democrats who are open to the world and again the social democrats who carry the flag for membership in the EU. And it is the social democrats who will help Turkey in the EU. When they cannot find compatible partners in Turkey because of the attitude of the CHP, Turkey’s EU relations are harmed.

Do you mean that it was not only the government that slowed down reforms in its second administration after the election last year, but it was also the opposition that negatively influenced the country’s progress on the way to the EU?

Yes, that gap in the opposition enforced such an environment. Today the European social democrats have serious problems because they cannot find partners in Turkey. This is not a healthy situation for Turkey.

So should we expect opposition from the CHP to the Third National Program?

At the moment the CHP is not helping the EU integration process. Leadership happens when the masses follow the leader. Leadership doesn’t happen through a leader hunting for crowds by expressing populist sentiments. We have exactly the latter case. When there are anti-EU sentiments within the Turkish public, the leader in Turkey develops anti-EU rhetoric. I think we will see the EU issue approached by a short-sighted vision and be made a tool for domestic politics by the opposition, even though we terribly need leaders from both the opposition and the governing party who will approach the issue with a long-term vision that will benefit the Turkish people.

Reforms for the judiciary system

What would you say about the reforms regarding the judiciary?

Leave aside all the political changes in the judicial area and make courts speed up the process of resolving a case. Do you know anybody in Turkey who doesn’t complain about the slowness of due process? Every Turkish citizen should feel assured that there will be a speedy and just process when there is a case in court. Every Turkish citizen should develop a sense of trust in the judicial system. In addition, if you suffer from bad treatment in public hospitals when you are seeking treatment, then your citizenship rights have been hurt. So when it comes to restructuring some systems in Turkey, that should involve the basic areas of health and education as well, not just the judiciary.

Do you think that the public sense of trust in the judiciary system was hurt by some political decisions of the highest court in Turkey, for example, the required presence of 367 deputies when electing the president, or the rejection of the law relaxing the headscarf ban?

As in all democracies, some members of the public lost their trust in the judiciary as a result of those decisions and some did not. The principle should be the separation of powers. Neither Parliament nor the judiciary should be above the law. When this has not been taken into consideration in Turkey, we have seen cracks occur.

Let’s talk about some other sections of the Third National Program. You seemed to hang onto the “zero tolerance for torture” phrase in our previous conversation…

Zero tolerance for torture is an excellent approach. Turkish citizens’ sense of belonging will be strengthened by such approaches. I really cannot understand why nationalists are usually against Turkey’s membership to the EU because when the criteria of the EU have been implemented in Turkey, the number of citizens who would be proud of being Turkish would tremendously increase.

Why do you think some Turkish people are so skeptical toward the EU?

We are still a closed society, and we are wide open to misinformation. We believe everything that we read on the Internet. We do not have a culture that encourages investigation and research before believing or following an idea. Fortunately, in the new education system, we have left behind the old style of memorizing without thinking and instead are emphasizing research, so I believe the next generation will be much different and more advanced.

There are more sections in the reform package; one is the environment…

We can see that this is the most voluminous part of the program. Eighty pages have been dedicated to the environment. That means environmental issues will be on the agenda more and more in coming days. We will probably see more investment and employment opportunities in this area. It is time we stop seeing environmental issues as we see feminism -- as marginal ideas.

The section in the national program dedicated to women’s issues mostly deals with the issue of violence against women and also mentions that more micro credits will be given in order to increase women’s participation in the labor force. Is this enough?

It’s not enough. We lag behind when it comes to women’s political rights. In addition, we have a huge problem with women’s participation in the labor force. Across the EU, female participation in the work force is now close to the 60 percent target set for 2010 in the Lisbon roadmap for gender equality. But in Turkey women’s primary role has still been seen as homemaker. We can see that there are not many professional women among the wives of the ministers and deputies in Parliament.

Your last thoughts?

All institutions in Turkey -- banks, companies, civil society groups, etc. -- should carefully watch what is being done in Turkey regarding harmonization with the EU. This is beneficial for them and beneficial for the public. Some of the companies may need more time than others to harmonize their regulations. Will they have enough time? The EU process may slow down from time to time, but it will always be there.

Zeynep Göğüş

A journalist by profession, she is the founder and president of TR Plus Centre for Turkey in Europe, a Brussels-based NGO. She is also the publisher of Euractiv Turkey, and president of ZEGO Communications Strategies Center, based in İstanbul.

During her journalistic career she served as Brussels bureau chief, editor and columnist for various national Turkish media. She also conducted high-profile interviews for television and won numerous journalistic awards. She is a founding member of Turkey's Association for Supporting Women Candidates in Politics (KADER) and a member of the board of directors of the Turkish Family Health and Planning Foundation (TAP).

Her published books include "Television Careers" ("TV Meslekleri," 1978), "A Dream of Europe" (Bir Avrupa Rüyası, 1991), "The Ostrich's Credit Card" ("Deve Kuşunun Kredi Kartı," 1997) and "Letters About Europe to My Son" (Oğluma Avrupa Mektupları, 2002).