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î Başa
BRIDGING THE BOSPHORUS - TURKEY'S EUROPEAN FUTURE
(08/09/05)
Location: Institute of Public Policy
Research, London
Speech Date: 08/09/05
Speaker: Jack
Straw
Speech by the Foreign Secretary,
Jack Straw, at the Institute of Public Policy Research, 8 September
2005
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
May I begin by thanking the Institute for arranging today's
event. That they were able to gather such an impressive audience is a testament
to the high regard in which the Institute is held; and especially as most of the
nation's interest is about two miles south of here – it was 90 for 1 when I left
the office. Although the Institute's international programme was established
only three years ago, it has already made a significant contribution to the
debate on international policy. May I also say that the Institutes recent report
was an impressive and solid piece of work which should set a paradigm for
organisations such as this. On more than one occasion over the past three years
I have been grateful for the fresh approach the Institute has to
problems.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On a November evening two years
ago I stood under the arc lights in the rubble of what had once been the fine
perimeter buildings and courtyard of Pera House, the British Consulate General
building in Istanbul. A few hours before these buildings had been blown up, the
work of Al Qaeda-linked suicide bombers. Sixteen people were killed in all.
Three British citizens and thirteen Turkish. It was part of a wave of a bombings
which claimed more than forty other innocent victims, mainly Turkish.
I
had many emotions that sombre evening, but one was of the powerful, reassuring,
uncompromising solidarity that I'd been offered by the Turkish government and
people; the other of how familiar, yes European, Istanbul felt; how close we
were together, despite the efforts of the terrorists to divide us.
I've
often had flash-backs to that day and how I felt as we have discussed Turkey's
long-standing application to join the European Union. These talks are now
entering what could be their crucial final phase before the 3rd October date set
for the start of negotiations towards full membership of the Union. It is
therefore worth underlining Turkey's strategic importance, and the momentous
consequences which will follow from that event next
month.
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Of course, the land
which is now Turkey has been a part of European history for centuries. The great
armies of Darius and Xerxes were ferried across the Hellespont in one direction;
Alexander the Great and his army in the other. Turkey still bears the marks of
the Greek, Roman and Byzantine civilisations which have done so much to shape
modern Europe. And for 1000 years after the fall of Rome, Constantinople was one
of the world's two great centres of Christendom.
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Throughout the 18th,
19th and early 20th century policy towards the Ottoman empire – the so-called
Eastern Question – preoccupied the great European powers. In the 1850s it led to
Britain and France fighting the Crimean war together against Russia and
alongside Turkey. The Turkish republic, which was founded in October 1923, saw
its future firmly faced the West. Its founder, Kemal Ataturk, laid the
foundations for the democracy which Turkey now is. He was responsible for the
introduction of the Latin script. And in 1934 he gave women the vote – years
before many Western European states did so. I could name them – but I won't. In
any case, it was only six years after the UK had given women the
vote.
Turkey's engagement with the West – and vice-versa – has
carried on unbroken into post-war history. Turkey was a founding member of the
Council of Europe. With the agreement of the US, UK, France and others, Turkey
was invited to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in 1952. It's worth
spelling the acronym out in full. What we were doing was inviting Turkey into
NATO – I hope for their own benefit – but also for ours to help defend the North
Atlantic area.v Throughout the cold war Turkey was one of only two NATO
countries that shared a border with Soviet Union and has continued to play a
part in collective defence and peacekeeping operations right up to the present
day – most notably in Afghanistan.
Turkey's relations with the European
Union – then the EEC – began in 1963 with the signing of an association
agreement establishing a customs union in three stages. It is significant that
at the signing ceremony that day, Walter Hallstein, the German Christian
Democrat and the first President of the European Commission, referred three
times to Turkey being part of Europe. The association agreement held open the
possibility one day of Turkish membership; and in 1987 Turkey applied to join
the Union. In 1999, she was granted candidate country status and in 2002 the
European Council formally decided in Copenhagen that it would open accession
negotiations without delay, once Turkey had fulfilled the political criteria for
membership. Of course, all these decisions were, and had to be,
unanimous.
The history of all this is important. It clearly demonstrates
that the destinies of Turkey and the rest of Europe have long been intertwined.
It also shows that when the European Council made its historic decision at the
end of last year to set the date for the opening of accession negotiations –
October 3 – it was the latest step in a long journey.
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There is
more at stake here than Turkey's future. This is about Europe's future too. And
it is a question of paramount importance for the whole international community.
Turkey is a secular nation with a majority Muslim population. By welcoming
Turkey we will demonstrate that Western and Islamic cultures can thrive together
as partners in the modern world. The alternative is too terrible to contemplate.
This is the strategic importance of the step Europe will take next month. The
European Union has already demonstrated its power to heal division in the most
practical way by welcoming countries who were long divided from us by the iron
curtain. We now have the opportunity to achieve something as profoundly
important by starting Turkey on the road to full EU membership. In my 1950's
schooldays I was taught that the formal boundary between Europe and Asia went
straight down the Bosphorus through the middle of Istanbul, putting Turkey's
former capital in both continents. But the truth is that Europe – in the wider
historical sense – defies any simple definition. In 1876, Bismarck scribbled on
the back of a telegram: 'Anyone who speaks of Europe is wrong – it is nothing
but a geographical expression'. Seventy years later, Jean Monnet, ‘the father of
Europe' echoed those words: 'Europe has never existed – one has genuinely to
create Europe'.
So the decisions on Turkey made by the European
Council over many years have been decisions about the kind of Europe which we
want to create. Is it a Europe turned inwards on itself or a Europe looking
outwards to the rest of the world; how much will we expand our boundaries to
build a wider community of stable, prosperous democracies or how much will we
keep our neighbours at arms length?
We live in a world of global
challenges and global competition. A static Europe will not face either with
confidence. No-one is arguing that Europe has no limits. But stopping the
enlargement already in train would not, in the long run, save one job nor keep
one firm in business. Rather we judge that it would only weaken Europe's ability
to compete with the emerging economies of Asia – and in particular those of
India and China. Neither would slowing enlargement help us to tackle the
challenges of international terrorism, cross-border crime, drug trafficking and
climate change.
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For we should all be clear about one thing.
Enlargement has been good for the new member states who've joined and it has
been good for the European Union. As Spain, Portugal and Greece threw off
one-party rule and began to entrench democratic institutions during the 1970s,
the prospect of EU membership acted as a powerful motor for change. In the
1990s, as the countries of Eastern Europe emerged from the shadow of communism,
the EU again drove a similar process. The goal of EU membership gave those
countries a powerful incentive for both political and economic reform, as they
opened their economies to trade and implemented EU laws and
standards.
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This enlargement over the last two decades has
not diluted the stability and prosperity of the then current members states –
rather it has enhanced it. It has peacefully united much of Europe after
generations of division and conflict. It has incorporated the young and growing
economies of Eastern Europe into the largest single market in the world. And it
has increased the influence of the EU internationally. At a time when the
European Union does indeed have to reconnect to its citizens and show them the
concrete benefits of the EU, we should proudly display enlargement as one of its
greatest success stories.
Every acceding country admitted to
membership has had to meet strict criteria, especially on good governance,
democracy, individual freedoms, and economic management. But we should remember
that when some of the new member states – including recent accession states –
began their negotiations they were a long way short of the standards for
membership itself. They transformed during that process of negotiation– and
because of that process – just as Turkey will go through a major, continuing
process of transformation over a number of years before it joins the Union. We
should have confidence in Commission officials and successive Commissioners,
including Olli Rehn and his predecessor Gunther Verheugen, to ensure that
accession negotiations are rigorous and scrupulous; and we
do.
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So
why Turkey and why start now? Turkey's geographical position makes it of vital
strategic importance in every way. I could give many examples. Take the fight
against drug trafficking, cross-border crime and international terrorism. Take
the issue of energy. The Bosphorus is already a key supply route for the world's
energy needs. And once the Azerbaijan to Turkey pipeline begins to pump one
million barrels per day through Turkey later this year, 10 per cent of the
world's tradeable oil production will be passing through Turkey. Turkey's
economy is growing faster than any of the current economies of the European
Union. Half of Turkey's trade is already with the EU and it is already a major
market for EU exporters. And again, of course, we shouldn't forget that if and
when Turkey does become a member, as I said, it will be after years of
structural reforms and with a long track record of sustained and stable
growth.
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The political rationale behind Turkish membership is even
more powerful. I have spoken already of the terrorists' desire to turn Turkey
away from Europe. They know that in a world where some want to see clash of
civilisations, Turkish accession would show instead how diversity of culture and
religion is compatible with a unity of purpose.
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We
can already see this within the European Union's current boundaries. Our largely
Christian heritage is overlaid by successive layers of reformation and
counter-reformation, of secular enlightenment and of the influx of new
religions. Today several of the countries of the European Union count over a
million Muslim citizens each. In the United Kingdom the figure is closer to two
million.
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A stable, prosperous
Turkey anchored in the European Union would be a powerful symbol indeed that the
true divide lies not between civilisations but between the vast majority of
civilised people across the world and the uncivilised few who use violence and
terror to try to destroy the common values and beliefs which bind the rest of
us. It will prove that a secular, democratic state which shows respect for Islam
can live comfortably within Europe. Conversely, what message would we give out
if we were perceived to turn away from Turkey? The benefit that Turkey can offer
to our security is already plain; only last week it was Turkey which brokered
the historic meeting between the foreign ministers of Israel and one of the
Islamic countries of the world – Pakistan.
So my third question is
why start now? As I said earlier, Turkey's vocation in the EU was recognised as
long ago as 1963. The prospect of EU membership, particularly over the last four
years, has driven an impressive process of change in Turkey. Prime Minister
Erdogan's AKP government has pursued a wide-ranging and courageous programme of
reform.
There is still some way to go with implementation, as the recent
charges against the distinguished Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk show, in the
context of freedom of speech. But the progress has been dramatic. The death
penalty has been abolished. Taboos have been broken on Kurdish issues. Mindsets
are changing. Turkey is now a great deal closer than it was to European
standards, as the European Council itself has recognised.
In December the
European Council decided that Turkey had sufficiently met the Copenhagen
political criteria to begin negotiations on October 3rd. But the council set two
strict conditions before those negotiations could begin. Turkey was asked to
enact six pieces of legislation which would reinforce the rule of law and human
rights in that country. They did this on 1 June. Turkey was also asked to sign a
protocol to the EU-Turkey Association Agreement expanding that 1963 agreement
and following enlargement. This Turkey did on 29 July.
As for any
accession state there is still much to do before Turkey will have met the
conditions necessary actually to join the Union. There are thirty-five separate
chapters which will have to be opened and closed during accession negotiations.
These cover issues from justice and home affairs through to economics and the
environment. Meeting the standard on all these chapters will require the
continued and sustained commitment from the Turkish government. And the result
of any accession negotiations – by their very nature – cannot be
prejudged.
It is clearly right, however, that the European Union should
now follow through on its decision to begin negotiations; negotiations which,
under the watchful eye of the Commission, we expect to be long and complex and
involve the continuation of reform. To do otherwise would not only compromise
the credibility of the EU but might also endanger the considerable progress
already made in Turkey. We should be very clear indeed about what is at stake.
We all have an interest in the modernisation of Turkey, and of reform there. If
we make the wrong decisions we could find that we have a crisis on our own
doorstep.
That then is the big picture – the strategic imperative for
Turkey to move towards membership of the European Union. Turkey's nearest
neighbours in the EU – Greece and Cyprus – have been among the strongest
supporters of this strategic imperative. And Turkey's progress towards
membership is clearly in the interests of that region – a region still
bedevilled by unresolved disputes – including those over Cyprus and over the
Aegean.
I would have preferred it if the Government of Turkey had not
felt it necessary to issue its declaration stating that its signature of the
Association Agreement Protocol did not amount to recognition of the Republic of
Cyprus. By doing so the process has frankly been made more difficult. The
European Union is discussing how to respond and will do so appropriately. Our
common goal is to ensure that the Customs Union between Turkey and all 25 EU
member states – including Cyprus – is implemented fully and without
discrimination.
But acknowledging that Turkey's declaration raises
genuine concerns – which we, as Presidency, are working hard to address - does
not mean that we should delay the start of Turkey's historic accession
negotiations. We should have faith in the power of the Union to help resolve
problems.
Our own experience in the UK suggests that the engagement
within the European Union can help to resolve the most difficult of disputes.
When the UK and the Republic of Ireland joined the then European Economic
Community in 1973, there was still a very significant and unresolved argument
about the sovereignty of part of the territory of the UK. Ireland, by its own
constitution, lay claim to Northern Ireland – part of the UK. I cannot prove
that EU membership resolved our differences with Ireland over their claim to
Northern Ireland. But I do believe that the shared prosperity from the EU, the
very much closer commercial and economic ties and the very fact of regular
political contact on mundane, daily business of the Union at the very least made
the peace process 25 years later much easier and in many ways imperative. But I
actually think that historians of the future will give more credit to the joint
membership of the EU in resolving this significant territorial dispute. And
while the people of Ireland showed impeccable behaviour during the entry of
Ireland into the EU, we should not forget the bloody backdrop to our joint
accession in 1973. Terrorists were carrying out atrocities both in Northern
Ireland and on the mainland of Britain. This was hardly a propitious beginning.
But the territorial dispute has since been resolved.
And while we are on
the topic, it is public knowledge that Spain and the United Kingdom have a
difference of emphasis over Gibraltar. This steps from the 1713 Treaty of
Utrecht and from Article 10 in particular. The Article says that we can have it
but if we give it up it goes to Spain. I paraphrase. This has caused lots of
problems – particularly for the people of Gibraltar. But I hope a resolution
will be found and if and when it is, I believe that it will stem from our joint
membership of the EU.
I want Cyprus – Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots
alike - to reap the same benefit. This is not a new approach that the UK is
taking. Faith in the EU's healing power, was one reason why in 1997 we took the
lead in arguing that the absence of settlement in Cyprus should not be a barrier
to the Republic of Cyprus joining the EU. This was confirmed by the European
Union in 1999. We should keep this faith, by allowing Turkey's accession process
to go ahead and – the other key ingredient – by helping the parties in Cyprus to
re-invigorate their UN-sponsored search for a settlement under the good offices
of the UN Secretary General and under the authority of a number of UN Security
Council Resolutions.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The European Union
faces a moment, the importance of which we must not underestimate. It will shape
the future of the world in which we live. It is one upon which stands the
security and prosperity of Europe itself. We cannot afford to get this
wrong.
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î Başa DEVLET BAKANI MEHMET AYDIN: 'İSLAM DÜNYASI UTANILACAK HALDE' - haber vitrini - mehmet aydın Aydın, ''Terörün başına 'İslam' konuyorsa kendi içimize de bakmalıyız. İslam'ın yeniden yorumlanmasında yeterli olamadık. Hâlâ son kullanma tarihine gelmiş bilgiler var'' diyor. 08 Eylül 2005 Perşembe 09:28
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Türkiye ile
İspanya'nın öncülüğünü yaptığı, Medeniyetler İttifakı Projesi çerçevesinde
oluşturulan ''akil adamlar grubu'' lideri Devlet Bakanı Prof. Dr. Mehmet
Aydın, ''Proje, farklı medeniyetlerin ortak değerlerden yola çıkarak
birlikte yaşayabileceklerini göstermeye yönelik bir çalışma'' dedi.
''Gününü doldurmuş geleneklere tutsak olmamak
gerektiğini, kadın-erkek ilişkileri konusunda dolaşan bilgilerin rahatsız
edici olduğunu'' anlatan Aydın, Milliyet'e şu açıklamaları yaptı:
Sömürgeci zihin hali
GERİLİM YARARLI OLABİLİR: Medeniyetler
çatışmasına teorik olarak inanmasak da, sokaktaki insan ve bazı karar
verici politikacılar tarafından kullanılıyor. Farklı medeniyetlere sahip
insanlar birbirlerini anlamakta zorluk çekiyor. Proje bunun aşılması
içindir. Bugün dünyada uluslararası çatışma gerilimi var. Çatışmanın özünü
siyasi, ekonomik ve askeri sebepler oluşturuyor. Din ve medeniyet eklenmiş
boyuttur, esas sebep değil. Gerilimden korkmamak lazım. Yönetilebilirse
gerilimler yararlı da olabilir. Çatışma tezi kılıf.
Ülkeler çıkıp, ''Falan ülkenin doğal
kaynaklarına muhtacım'' demez. Bu sömürgeciliğin yarattığı zihin hali ile
ilgilidir, dinle ilgisi yoktur.
Sosyal adalet yok
BATILILARLA BAZEN BOŞ KONUŞUYORUZ: Çatışma
tezi, Haçlı seferlerine kadar giden söylemleri, düşünceleri, duyguları ve
önyargıları tetikliyor. O günlerden birtakım sembolleri, hatıraları bugüne
getiriyor. Sokaktaki insan bile, ''Bunlar benim medeniyetime, dinime
karşılar'' diye düşünüyor.
Batılılarla konuşmalarımız bazen boş konuşma
oluyor. Amel etmiyorlar. Madem medeniyetler çatışması değildir, hakikaten
büyük politikacı iseniz yürekli biçimde olayın içine girin.
İSLAM DÜNYASI UTANILACAK HALDE: ''Medeniyet
değerlerimize karşılar'' diyen batılılara, ''bu değerleri açın''
dediğimizde ürperten şeyler duyuyorsunuz. ''İnsan onuruna saygı'' mesela.
Yani İslam dünyası; insan onuruna saygıyı, adaleti, hukukun üstünlüğünü
Batı'dan mı öğrenecek? Batı'nın bizden farkı, bunları daha iyi uygulamaya
koymasıdır. Açık yüreklilikle itiraf etmek lazım.
Sosyal adalet açısından baktığınızda, İslam
dünyasının durumu utanılacak haldedir. Bugün terörün başına ''İslam''
konuyorsa kendi içimize de bakmamız lazım. Demek ki biz başarılı olamadık.
Batı kültürel üstünlük duygusundan kurtulmalıdır. Kimse kimseye adalet,
insan onuruna saygı dersi vermeye kalkmasın, ayıp oluyor.
Liberal yaklaşmalıyız
HERKESİN DİNİ KENDİNE: Dini ayrımcılık
yapanlar ile ''yapılıyor'' diyenler kendilerine bakmıyor. Kendi dininin
geçerli olmadığına inanan bir tek ciddi Hıristiyan bulamazsınız.
Kuranıkerim asırlar önce, ''Herkesin dini kendine'' demiş. Dinlerimiz ayrı
diye kavga etmemize gerek yok ki.
GERÇEKLERLE BOĞUŞARAK MODERNLEŞME:
Müslümanlar hayatın gerçekleriyle boğuşarak modernleşiyor. Benim
çocukluğumda kızların okula gitmesinin gerekli olmadığını düşünenler
vardı. Şimdi öyle düşünenlerin çocukları torunları ''Haydi kızlar okula''
kampanyası düzenliyor. İslam'ın yeniden yorumlanmasında bugün yeterli
üretim sağlayamamışız. Hâlâ önemli ölçüde gününü doldurmuş, son kullanma
tarihine gelmiş bilgiler var. Mesela cenazeye çiçek göndermeye ''haram''
derseniz olmaz. Geleneğimizde olmadığı doğrudur. Bizim artık bu olayı
yeniden yorumlamamız lazım, ''insanlar bunu niye yapıyorlar'' diye.
GELENEK TUTSAĞI OLMAYALIM: Biz geleneklerin
tutsağı olacak durumda değiliz. Gelenekler içinde de gününü doldurmuş
olanlar var. Hâlâ yaşatılıp problemlerimizi çözmeyenler var. Değerlere
daha libarel yaklaşılmalı. Adalet, iffet, yüreklilik gibi ana değerlere
değil tabii.
Kadınların bağımsızlığı
KADINI ESKİ FOTOĞRAFA KOYAMAZSINIZ:
Kadın-erkek ilişkileri hakkında tedavüldeki bilgiler insanları rahatsız
ediyor. Kadınlarımız ekonomik bağımsızlıklarını kazanmalı. Eşitlik içinde,
geleceği birlikte oluşturmalıyız. Geriye doğru gider kitaplara bakarsanız,
bunların bir kısmının kolay olmayacağını görürsünüz. İşte o bilgiler,
kanaatimce gününü doldurmuş bilgilerdir. Kadınların bir topluluğa gitmesi,
o günün şartları içinde doğru karşılanmayabilirdi. Ama bugün bir kadın o
topluluğa gitmeli, gidiyor da. Bir hanım 500 erkeğe konferans verebiliyor.
İftihar ediyorum bu tablodan. Bu durumu götürüp 150 sene önceki durumun, o
resmin içine oturtup değerlendiremezsiniz.
POPÜLER KÜLTÜR TEHDİT: Popüler kültür bazı
değerleri rahatsız ediyor. Sanat değeri olmayan, para kazanmak için
üretilen bir filmi, yazıyı, eseri okurken, dinlerken huzursuzluk
duyuyorum.
Çankaya'yı düşünüyor mu?
CUMHURBAŞKANLIĞI TARTIŞMASI: (AKP'nin Köşk
için kendisini aday göstereceği haberleri üzerine) Cumhurbaşkanlığı
göreviyle ilgili bugünden herhangi bir yorumda bulunmak yanlış olur. O
değerlendirmeyi yapan gazeteci arkadaşa, ''Doğru değil'' dersem de, böyle
bir şeyin umudu içinde olduğumu söylesem de yanlış olur. Hayatta
iliklerime kadar zevk aldığım en büyük iş, bilgi ve fikir üretmektir. Asla
makam ve mevki peşinde değilim.
DİN GÖREVLİLERİ FAKÜLTE MEZUNU OLMALI:
Türkiye'nin içinde bulunduğu şartlarda din görevlilerinin üniversite
mezunu olmaları gerekir. O istikamette hızla gidiyoruz. Atanan fakülteli
din görevlilerini de birkaç yılda bir toplayarak güncel bilgilerin
aktarılması gerekiyor.
YURTDIŞINA PARA İÇİN GİTMİYORUM: Sık sık
yurtdışına gitmemizi eleştirenler haksızlık ediyor. Yolluk ancak bizi
idare ediyor. Hatta eklemek gerekiyor.
Portre / Mehmet Aydın
Kant uzmanı
İslam dininin yanı sıra Hıristiyanlık kültürü
ve Avrupa tarihi konularındaki entelektüel birikimiyle de tanınan diyanet
işlerinden sorumlu Devlet Bakanı Prof. Dr. Mehmet Aydın, 1943'te Elazığ'da
doğdu. İngiltere'de Edinburg Üniversitesi'nde ''felsefe'' üzerine doktora
yaptı.
Doçentlik tezini ''sistematik felsefe'' ve
''mantık'' alanında hazırladı. Felsefe çalışmaları, özellikle Kant
üzerinde yoğunlaştı.
(MİLLİYET)
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