Batir Pasha Yok Amane

ATHENS, October 20, 2006. European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and Turkey's EU membership negotiator Ali Babacan met with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni in Athens on Thursday. "We support Turkey's European course and ... every candidate must meet the requirements and commitments it has agreed on," Bakoyanni said.

Not so fast, Madam Minister!

Turkey’s full membership in the EU has long been hailed by both liberals and pragmatists as a way of assuring this most strategically important country does not join the ranks of Muslim fundamentalist nations. Washington, while pouring the concrete for the fence that will go up along the US border with Mexico, has been aggressively pressing Brussels to open its doors to over 70 million new citizens whose current GDP per capita is approximately one-fourth of that of the Union.

Granted, Turkey is of major strategic importance. Spanning two continents and occupying an area of 780,000 sq.km (almost as large as Germany and France combined), Turkey borders Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Unquestionably, the EU must forge a very close relationship with Turkey. But full accession?

There are certain principles and freedoms the Europeans have fought long and hard to achieve and attain; to name but a few, freedom of expression; freedom of the press; and separation of church and state. What will Turkey bring to the table? It is fair to ask; after all, Turkey will have the largest delegation to the European Parliament (by 2020, Turkey’s population will have surpassed that of Germany). As such, Turkish Euro-MPs will have a very big say on what the rest of us in the Union may or may not read, write, say, eat or drink.

How would you like to go to jail for insulting ‘Frenchness’ or for writing a negative article on the bureaucratic practices of Greek state banks? “Far-fetched,” you might say. Just ask Hrant Dink, Elif Safak, or Orhan Pamuk. They are among scores who were prosecuted under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) which punishes the public denigration of “Turkishness” or of state authorities. Unless you happen to be a world-known writer about to win a Nobel Prize, you might just rot in jail.

And how about publishing an editorial in El País critical of the way the government has treated the Basques? Think twice. In July 2006, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Turkey for having prosecuted an editor and the owner of the Turkish daily Ozgur Bakis for pro-Kurdish content.

Feel discriminated against by your employer, say British Airways, because of your sexual orientation and wish to seek redress? Sorry. Amnesty International points out that Article 122 of the TPC introduced in 2005 deals with discrimination on the basis of language, race, religion, and so on. Sexual orientation was originally listed but was removed from the draft at the last moment. Oops!

A religious crusader elected Federal Chancellor of Germany? The Turkish Euro-MPs will be all for it; after all, Turkey’s Islamist Prime Minister Erdogan served time in prison in 1999 for “inciting religious hatred.” Speaking of “Islamist,” what of a law outlawing the sale of liquor a mile or less from any mosque in the EU? You might think this belongs only in Utah or Arizona but, with Islam as a major force in the European Parliament, it is hard to predict how it will affect our daily lives. Like it or not, here is a society which does not look kindly upon alcohol, pornography, or women’s rights.

While President Bush welcomed Turkish Premier Erdogan to the White House on 6 October 2006 and used the occasion to once again publicly urge the EU to accept Turkey as a full member, here is what his intelligence tells him of Turkey:

Turkey

Transnational Issues

key transit route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe and - to a far lesser extent the US - via air, land, and sea routes; major Turkish, Iranian, and other international trafficking organizations operate out of Istanbul; laboratories to convert imported morphine base into heroin are in remote regions of Turkey and near Istanbul; government maintains strict controls over areas of legal opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate; lax enforcement of money-laundering controls

(https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/tu.html)

Is this what you wish on us Mr President while you are busy building your border fence to keep Mexicans out?

Madam Minister,

I do not wish to take sides in this complex diplomatic issue. Assuring you I mean no harm whatsoever to the Greekness of your remarks last Thursday, I wish to leave you with a few photos from Turkey that a friend was kind enough to send me just as you were making your remarks. Please see "Postcard from our Neighbor to the East" below.