STATEMENT BY EROL KĐRESEPĐ AT COMMUNICATING TURKEY SEMINAR Chairmen, Stockholm, 2 December 2009 We came together today to discuss how Turkey s accession to the EU can be better communicated and what kind of role civil society organizations can play in this area. Before presenting my concrete suggestions on the point, I would like to share briefly my views on the state of play of Turkey-EU relations and the problems we are facing today. My purpose in doing this is to stress the importance of the role civil society organizations can play. As you know, Turkey s accession negotiations started in October 2005 which means that the process has been going on for 4 years. However, the current state of play is simply disappointing. So much so that in this period only 11 of the 35 negotiation chapters were opened and just one was provisionally closed. Opening benchmarks were set for 13 chapters while closing benchmarks were defined for 5 chapters. 8 chapters were suspended due to the impasse in Cyprus issue. 5 further chapters have been blocked by France on the grounds that they would eventually lead to membership. These five chapters include agriculture and rural development, economic and monetary policy, education and culture, financial and budgetary provisions and institutions. Just think about it; you start a negotiation with the EU for full membership but some of the negotiation files will be suspended as they may take you to full membership. In such a case, the honest thing to do would change the name of this negotiation process which Turkey would never accept- or remove your veto.
Chairmen, I think this short explanation puts very clearly the sad situation of EU- Turkey relations. However, I would like to dwell upon it in a little more detail. In recent years, the negative attitude of some European leaders on Turkey s membership, the current financial crisis, the negative approach of European people to Turkey due mainly to prejudices owing to lack of knowledge, have given rise in Turkey to the impression that even if all membership criteria were met, Turkey would somehow not be admitted and that it was being subject to delaying action. This in turn has led to a rapid decline in the number of Turkish citizens that support EU membership. Last September, the Independent Commission on Turkey which brings together such important European figures as former President of Finland and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari along with Kurt Biedenkopf, Hans van den Broek and Michel Rocard published its second report with the title Turkey in Europe: Breaking the vicious circle. The report stresses that Deceleration of Turkey s reform process has on one hand strengthened the opposition in Europe against Turkey s full membership While on the other hand this led to loss of motivation for Turkish reformers and thus a vicious circle has been set. This vicious circle came to overshadow many positive steps Turkey took within the framework of adoption of EU acquis. 2
The breaking of this vicious circle as soon as possible will be in the interest of both Turkey and the EU. In order to do this, attitudes and approaches must change both in Turkey and in Europe. Europeans must fulfill their commitment on Turkey s accession and adopt a fair and equitable attitude towards Turkey. The proposals of privileged partnership or special relationship by some member states clearly violate the principle of pacta sunt servanda since such a proposal is conflict with all EU decisions and commitments t date taken on this point. In the meantime, Turkey should resume broad based reform process covering the government and the opposition and should encourage its many friends in Europe. Chairmen, At this point, I would like to move more closely to the topic of how to communicate Turkey better in Europe and what kind of roles civil society could assume in this. In this context, I would like to quote, the EC Communication of 29 June 2005 on Civil Society Dialogue Between EU and Candidate Countries. According to this Communication, one of the lessons to be learned from the last enlargement round is that The citizens of EU member states were not sufficiently well informed or prepared. However, we cannot stress enough the need to support future enlargements with a strong and consistent dialogue involving the societies of member and candidate countries and as well as EU institutions. This support should Fill knowledge gaps, Help better mutual understanding, 3
Contribute to bringing citizens closer to different cultures, political and economic systems; And help build a stronger awareness about the opportunities and challenges to be brought by future enlargements. In this context, the Commission Recommendation of October 2004 on Turkey s Progress towards accession, it was Proposed that a dialogue be developed whereby the concerns and perceptions between Turkey and Member States would be discussed frankly and openly; And stated that the EU would facilitate this dialogue while civil society should assume important role in the process. The same Communication states the aims of civil society dialogue as follows: - To strengthen the contacts and sharing of experience among all parts of civil society in Member States and candidate countries; - To inform EU countries on opportunities and challenges of future enlargements, - To ensure for this purpose that adequate information on the economies histories and socio-cultural structures of candidate countries is acquired; - And to ensure that the basic values, actions and policies of the EU are well understood in candidate countries. Distinguished participants; We are all aware that in the European public opinion, there is a problem of image and promotion on Turkey s accession due mainly to prejudices and lack of knowledge. We also have misperceptions and misinformation in our country with regard to EU. We should not ignore the fact that communication constitutes the third main column of in EU negotiations and reform process. Therefore the reforms undertaken in Turkey in recent years; 4
Have been communicated to EU countries by public and civil society organizations for communication purposes through various events. However, it is also true that Communication activities targeting EU countries are not being implemented in a planned and conscious way, We have not been successful enough in reaching the target audience, Problems were faced in terms of timing of activities, Evaluation and monitoring of activities could not be done effectively, There has been failure in achieving sufficient failure due to the inability to bring communication activities under a single umbrella, And financial sources are weak and existing sources could not be used efficiently. While there are many things that Turkey can do to promote Turkey s image towards EU citizens, there is a limit to it. Because in order to communicate, we need receivers with antennae set to the right frequency that will absorbs the communication waves we will emit. Paradoxically this can be achieved by EU leaders who dare put forward their vision and political capital. Unfortunately the current perception of paradigm is not suitable for this. There is no doubt that Turkey s accession will be one of the most difficult; one does not need to have the insight of a genius to tell this. However, it is Turkey that must do its homework for accession. The difficulty of Turkey s accession stems from the scale of the country and the requirement that the economic and political transformation must be undertaken while the national consensus on European perspective is being maintained. This is Turkey s internal challenge. And Turkey will overcome this challenge through its own dynamics. 5
As I have mentioned a few minutes ago, the most important mechanism in EU relations is a well organized COMMUNICATON mechanism. Nonetheless, communication is not a one way street. Turkey needs to give each stakeholder in EU coverage and process messages to calm down their concerns through communication instruments whose main players will be civil society organizations. Our expectation should not be a single-directional one like The EU should keep its promise, but instead Turkey should deserve it by doing its homework. Only when these conditions are fulfilled that it will be the EU s turn to keep its promises. The other key message is that Turkey will work to demonstrate its potential contributions to EU in political and cultural fields. Europe should be aware of what it will give up if it does not prefer Turkey s accession to EU. It should act in line with knowledge of this point. Another key message is that in the Communication process, there should be varying communication strategies for each country and stakeholders in every country. There will evidently be common denominators in these strategies and it will eventually be easier to understand each other. This is the right approach that will create the right image of Turkey for EU citizens. Civil society organizations established by our citizens in EU countries are our Windows of opportunity. These windows should be multiplied equipped with well defined and right messages. At this point, I would like to underline two very important developments. In 2009, a Turkish Season was organized in France and this series of events became a golden opportunity for French citizens to realize the cultural values and richness of Turkey. We believe that this activity will contribute to positive developments in perceptions about Turkey in the Turkish public opinion. As Michel Rocard, Jacques Delors, Luc Ferry, Alain Touraine and Edgar Morin hoped in their article in Le Monde, Turkish Season in France helped interrupt though for a short period the discussion in the French public opinion on Turkey s accession which depend on prejudices rather than knowledge. 6
It is necessary and possible to sustain this interruption with the help of Istanbul s year in 2010 as European Culture Capital. 2010 presents Europe the chance to discover the roots of its own culture and while giving Turkey a magnificent opportunity to understand each other with Europe. With 2010 in Đstanbul, Europe will understand how close The Other of Europe is to itself. Indeed, we should create the environment that will make use of the synergy of 2010 and will increase the momentum. The challenge for Europe is not its capacity to absorb Turkey. The issue is, after 20 full years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, whether Europe will want to be divided along religious and cultural walls. From 11/9 to 9/11, the world failed to bring civilizations together; it instead further divided them and in this process Europe could not play an important role. From now on, the question for Europe is whether it will end this process of division or contribute to its deepening. Distinguished participants, I would like to conclude my remarks by quoting a recent speech by Italian Foreign Minister and former Vice President of European Commission Franco Frattini: The day when Turkey becomes an EU member, Europe s second Berlin Wall will have fallen. 7
STATEMENT BY EROL KĐRESEPĐ AT COMMUNICATING TURKEY SEMINAR Chairmen, Stockholm, 2 December 2009 We came together today to discuss how Turkey s accession to the EU can be better communicated and what kind of role civil society organizations can play in this area. Before presenting my concrete suggestions on the point, I would like to share briefly my views on the state of play of Turkey-EU relations and the problems we are facing today. My purpose in doing this is to stress the importance of the role civil society organizations can play. As you know, Turkey s accession negotiations started in October 2005 which means that the process has been going on for 4 years. However, the current state of play is simply disappointing. So much so that in this period only 11 of the 35 negotiation chapters were opened and just one was provisionally closed. Opening benchmarks were set for 13 chapters while closing benchmarks were defined for 5 chapters. 8 chapters were suspended due to the impasse in Cyprus issue. 5 further chapters have been blocked by France on the grounds that they would eventually lead to membership. These five chapters include agriculture and rural development, economic and monetary policy, education and culture, financial and budgetary provisions and institutions. Just think about it; you start a negotiation with the EU for full membership but some of the negotiation files will be suspended as they may take you to full membership. In such a case, the honest thing to do would change the name of this negotiation process which Turkey would never accept- or remove your veto.
Chairmen, I think this short explanation puts very clearly the sad situation of EU- Turkey relations. However, I would like to dwell upon it in a little more detail. In recent years, the negative attitude of some European leaders on Turkey s membership, the current financial crisis, the negative approach of European people to Turkey due mainly to prejudices owing to lack of knowledge, have given rise in Turkey to the impression that even if all membership criteria were met, Turkey would somehow not be admitted and that it was being subject to delaying action. This in turn has led to a rapid decline in the number of Turkish citizens that support EU membership. Last September, the Independent Commission on Turkey which brings together such important European figures as former President of Finland and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari along with Kurt Biedenkopf, Hans van den Broek and Michel Rocard published its second report with the title Turkey in Europe: Breaking the vicious circle. The report stresses that Deceleration of Turkey s reform process has on one hand strengthened the opposition in Europe against Turkey s full membership While on the other hand this led to loss of motivation for Turkish reformers and thus a vicious circle has been set. This vicious circle came to overshadow many positive steps Turkey took within the framework of adoption of EU acquis. 2
The breaking of this vicious circle as soon as possible will be in the interest of both Turkey and the EU. In order to do this, attitudes and approaches must change both in Turkey and in Europe. Europeans must fulfill their commitment on Turkey s accession and adopt a fair and equitable attitude towards Turkey. The proposals of privileged partnership or special relationship by some member states clearly violate the principle of pacta sunt servanda since such a proposal is conflict with all EU decisions and commitments t date taken on this point. In the meantime, Turkey should resume broad based reform process covering the government and the opposition and should encourage its many friends in Europe. Chairmen, At this point, I would like to move more closely to the topic of how to communicate Turkey better in Europe and what kind of roles civil society could assume in this. In this context, I would like to quote, the EC Communication of 29 June 2005 on Civil Society Dialogue Between EU and Candidate Countries. According to this Communication, one of the lessons to be learned from the last enlargement round is that The citizens of EU member states were not sufficiently well informed or prepared. However, we cannot stress enough the need to support future enlargements with a strong and consistent dialogue involving the societies of member and candidate countries and as well as EU institutions. This support should Fill knowledge gaps, Help better mutual understanding, 3
Contribute to bringing citizens closer to different cultures, political and economic systems; And help build a stronger awareness about the opportunities and challenges to be brought by future enlargements. In this context, the Commission Recommendation of October 2004 on Turkey s Progress towards accession, it was Proposed that a dialogue be developed whereby the concerns and perceptions between Turkey and Member States would be discussed frankly and openly; And stated that the EU would facilitate this dialogue while civil society should assume important role in the process. The same Communication states the aims of civil society dialogue as follows: - To strengthen the contacts and sharing of experience among all parts of civil society in Member States and candidate countries; - To inform EU countries on opportunities and challenges of future enlargements, - To ensure for this purpose that adequate information on the economies histories and socio-cultural structures of candidate countries is acquired; - And to ensure that the basic values, actions and policies of the EU are well understood in candidate countries. Distinguished participants; We are all aware that in the European public opinion, there is a problem of image and promotion on Turkey s accession due mainly to prejudices and lack of knowledge. We also have misperceptions and misinformation in our country with regard to EU. We should not ignore the fact that communication constitutes the third main column of in EU negotiations and reform process. Therefore the reforms undertaken in Turkey in recent years; 4
Have been communicated to EU countries by public and civil society organizations for communication purposes through various events. However, it is also true that Communication activities targeting EU countries are not being implemented in a planned and conscious way, We have not been successful enough in reaching the target audience, Problems were faced in terms of timing of activities, Evaluation and monitoring of activities could not be done effectively, There has been failure in achieving sufficient failure due to the inability to bring communication activities under a single umbrella, And financial sources are weak and existing sources could not be used efficiently. While there are many things that Turkey can do to promote Turkey s image towards EU citizens, there is a limit to it. Because in order to communicate, we need receivers with antennae set to the right frequency that will absorbs the communication waves we will emit. Paradoxically this can be achieved by EU leaders who dare put forward their vision and political capital. Unfortunately the current perception of paradigm is not suitable for this. There is no doubt that Turkey s accession will be one of the most difficult; one does not need to have the insight of a genius to tell this. However, it is Turkey that must do its homework for accession. The difficulty of Turkey s accession stems from the scale of the country and the requirement that the economic and political transformation must be undertaken while the national consensus on European perspective is being maintained. This is Turkey s internal challenge. And Turkey will overcome this challenge through its own dynamics. 5
As I have mentioned a few minutes ago, the most important mechanism in EU relations is a well organized COMMUNICATON mechanism. Nonetheless, communication is not a one way street. Turkey needs to give each stakeholder in EU coverage and process messages to calm down their concerns through communication instruments whose main players will be civil society organizations. Our expectation should not be a single-directional one like The EU should keep its promise, but instead Turkey should deserve it by doing its homework. Only when these conditions are fulfilled that it will be the EU s turn to keep its promises. The other key message is that Turkey will work to demonstrate its potential contributions to EU in political and cultural fields. Europe should be aware of what it will give up if it does not prefer Turkey s accession to EU. It should act in line with knowledge of this point. Another key message is that in the Communication process, there should be varying communication strategies for each country and stakeholders in every country. There will evidently be common denominators in these strategies and it will eventually be easier to understand each other. This is the right approach that will create the right image of Turkey for EU citizens. Civil society organizations established by our citizens in EU countries are our Windows of opportunity. These windows should be multiplied equipped with well defined and right messages. At this point, I would like to underline two very important developments. In 2009, a Turkish Season was organized in France and this series of events became a golden opportunity for French citizens to realize the cultural values and richness of Turkey. We believe that this activity will contribute to positive developments in perceptions about Turkey in the Turkish public opinion. As Michel Rocard, Jacques Delors, Luc Ferry, Alain Touraine and Edgar Morin hoped in their article in Le Monde, Turkish Season in France helped interrupt though for a short period the discussion in the French public opinion on Turkey s accession which depend on prejudices rather than knowledge. 6
It is necessary and possible to sustain this interruption with the help of Istanbul s year in 2010 as European Culture Capital. 2010 presents Europe the chance to discover the roots of its own culture and while giving Turkey a magnificent opportunity to understand each other with Europe. With 2010 in Đstanbul, Europe will understand how close The Other of Europe is to itself. Indeed, we should create the environment that will make use of the synergy of 2010 and will increase the momentum. The challenge for Europe is not its capacity to absorb Turkey. The issue is, after 20 full years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, whether Europe will want to be divided along religious and cultural walls. From 11/9 to 9/11, the world failed to bring civilizations together; it instead further divided them and in this process Europe could not play an important role. From now on, the question for Europe is whether it will end this process of division or contribute to its deepening. Distinguished participants, I would like to conclude my remarks by quoting a recent speech by Italian Foreign Minister and former Vice President of European Commission Franco Frattini: The day when Turkey becomes an EU member, Europe s second Berlin Wall will have fallen. 7
STATEMENT BY EROL KĐRESEPĐ AT COMMUNICATING TURKEY SEMINAR Chairmen, Stockholm, 2 December 2009 We came together today to discuss how Turkey s accession to the EU can be better communicated and what kind of role civil society organizations can play in this area. Before presenting my concrete suggestions on the point, I would like to share briefly my views on the state of play of Turkey-EU relations and the problems we are facing today. My purpose in doing this is to stress the importance of the role civil society organizations can play. As you know, Turkey s accession negotiations started in October 2005 which means that the process has been going on for 4 years. However, the current state of play is simply disappointing. So much so that in this period only 11 of the 35 negotiation chapters were opened and just one was provisionally closed. Opening benchmarks were set for 13 chapters while closing benchmarks were defined for 5 chapters. 8 chapters were suspended due to the impasse in Cyprus issue. 5 further chapters have been blocked by France on the grounds that they would eventually lead to membership. These five chapters include agriculture and rural development, economic and monetary policy, education and culture, financial and budgetary provisions and institutions. Just think about it; you start a negotiation with the EU for full membership but some of the negotiation files will be suspended as they may take you to full membership. In such a case, the honest thing to do would change the name of this negotiation process which Turkey would never accept- or remove your veto.
Chairmen, I think this short explanation puts very clearly the sad situation of EU- Turkey relations. However, I would like to dwell upon it in a little more detail. In recent years, the negative attitude of some European leaders on Turkey s membership, the current financial crisis, the negative approach of European people to Turkey due mainly to prejudices owing to lack of knowledge, have given rise in Turkey to the impression that even if all membership criteria were met, Turkey would somehow not be admitted and that it was being subject to delaying action. This in turn has led to a rapid decline in the number of Turkish citizens that support EU membership. Last September, the Independent Commission on Turkey which brings together such important European figures as former President of Finland and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari along with Kurt Biedenkopf, Hans van den Broek and Michel Rocard published its second report with the title Turkey in Europe: Breaking the vicious circle. The report stresses that Deceleration of Turkey s reform process has on one hand strengthened the opposition in Europe against Turkey s full membership While on the other hand this led to loss of motivation for Turkish reformers and thus a vicious circle has been set. This vicious circle came to overshadow many positive steps Turkey took within the framework of adoption of EU acquis. 2
The breaking of this vicious circle as soon as possible will be in the interest of both Turkey and the EU. In order to do this, attitudes and approaches must change both in Turkey and in Europe. Europeans must fulfill their commitment on Turkey s accession and adopt a fair and equitable attitude towards Turkey. The proposals of privileged partnership or special relationship by some member states clearly violate the principle of pacta sunt servanda since such a proposal is conflict with all EU decisions and commitments t date taken on this point. In the meantime, Turkey should resume broad based reform process covering the government and the opposition and should encourage its many friends in Europe. Chairmen, At this point, I would like to move more closely to the topic of how to communicate Turkey better in Europe and what kind of roles civil society could assume in this. In this context, I would like to quote, the EC Communication of 29 June 2005 on Civil Society Dialogue Between EU and Candidate Countries. According to this Communication, one of the lessons to be learned from the last enlargement round is that The citizens of EU member states were not sufficiently well informed or prepared. However, we cannot stress enough the need to support future enlargements with a strong and consistent dialogue involving the societies of member and candidate countries and as well as EU institutions. This support should Fill knowledge gaps, Help better mutual understanding, 3
Contribute to bringing citizens closer to different cultures, political and economic systems; And help build a stronger awareness about the opportunities and challenges to be brought by future enlargements. In this context, the Commission Recommendation of October 2004 on Turkey s Progress towards accession, it was Proposed that a dialogue be developed whereby the concerns and perceptions between Turkey and Member States would be discussed frankly and openly; And stated that the EU would facilitate this dialogue while civil society should assume important role in the process. The same Communication states the aims of civil society dialogue as follows: - To strengthen the contacts and sharing of experience among all parts of civil society in Member States and candidate countries; - To inform EU countries on opportunities and challenges of future enlargements, - To ensure for this purpose that adequate information on the economies histories and socio-cultural structures of candidate countries is acquired; - And to ensure that the basic values, actions and policies of the EU are well understood in candidate countries. Distinguished participants; We are all aware that in the European public opinion, there is a problem of image and promotion on Turkey s accession due mainly to prejudices and lack of knowledge. We also have misperceptions and misinformation in our country with regard to EU. We should not ignore the fact that communication constitutes the third main column of in EU negotiations and reform process. Therefore the reforms undertaken in Turkey in recent years; 4
Have been communicated to EU countries by public and civil society organizations for communication purposes through various events. However, it is also true that Communication activities targeting EU countries are not being implemented in a planned and conscious way, We have not been successful enough in reaching the target audience, Problems were faced in terms of timing of activities, Evaluation and monitoring of activities could not be done effectively, There has been failure in achieving sufficient failure due to the inability to bring communication activities under a single umbrella, And financial sources are weak and existing sources could not be used efficiently. While there are many things that Turkey can do to promote Turkey s image towards EU citizens, there is a limit to it. Because in order to communicate, we need receivers with antennae set to the right frequency that will absorbs the communication waves we will emit. Paradoxically this can be achieved by EU leaders who dare put forward their vision and political capital. Unfortunately the current perception of paradigm is not suitable for this. There is no doubt that Turkey s accession will be one of the most difficult; one does not need to have the insight of a genius to tell this. However, it is Turkey that must do its homework for accession. The difficulty of Turkey s accession stems from the scale of the country and the requirement that the economic and political transformation must be undertaken while the national consensus on European perspective is being maintained. This is Turkey s internal challenge. And Turkey will overcome this challenge through its own dynamics. 5
As I have mentioned a few minutes ago, the most important mechanism in EU relations is a well organized COMMUNICATON mechanism. Nonetheless, communication is not a one way street. Turkey needs to give each stakeholder in EU coverage and process messages to calm down their concerns through communication instruments whose main players will be civil society organizations. Our expectation should not be a single-directional one like The EU should keep its promise, but instead Turkey should deserve it by doing its homework. Only when these conditions are fulfilled that it will be the EU s turn to keep its promises. The other key message is that Turkey will work to demonstrate its potential contributions to EU in political and cultural fields. Europe should be aware of what it will give up if it does not prefer Turkey s accession to EU. It should act in line with knowledge of this point. Another key message is that in the Communication process, there should be varying communication strategies for each country and stakeholders in every country. There will evidently be common denominators in these strategies and it will eventually be easier to understand each other. This is the right approach that will create the right image of Turkey for EU citizens. Civil society organizations established by our citizens in EU countries are our Windows of opportunity. These windows should be multiplied equipped with well defined and right messages. At this point, I would like to underline two very important developments. In 2009, a Turkish Season was organized in France and this series of events became a golden opportunity for French citizens to realize the cultural values and richness of Turkey. We believe that this activity will contribute to positive developments in perceptions about Turkey in the Turkish public opinion. As Michel Rocard, Jacques Delors, Luc Ferry, Alain Touraine and Edgar Morin hoped in their article in Le Monde, Turkish Season in France helped interrupt though for a short period the discussion in the French public opinion on Turkey s accession which depend on prejudices rather than knowledge. 6
It is necessary and possible to sustain this interruption with the help of Istanbul s year in 2010 as European Culture Capital. 2010 presents Europe the chance to discover the roots of its own culture and while giving Turkey a magnificent opportunity to understand each other with Europe. With 2010 in Đstanbul, Europe will understand how close The Other of Europe is to itself. Indeed, we should create the environment that will make use of the synergy of 2010 and will increase the momentum. The challenge for Europe is not its capacity to absorb Turkey. The issue is, after 20 full years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, whether Europe will want to be divided along religious and cultural walls. From 11/9 to 9/11, the world failed to bring civilizations together; it instead further divided them and in this process Europe could not play an important role. From now on, the question for Europe is whether it will end this process of division or contribute to its deepening. Distinguished participants, I would like to conclude my remarks by quoting a recent speech by Italian Foreign Minister and former Vice President of European Commission Franco Frattini: The day when Turkey becomes an EU member, Europe s second Berlin Wall will have fallen. 7
STATEMENT BY EROL KĐRESEPĐ AT COMMUNICATING TURKEY SEMINAR Chairmen, Stockholm, 2 December 2009 We came together today to discuss how Turkey s accession to the EU can be better communicated and what kind of role civil society organizations can play in this area. Before presenting my concrete suggestions on the point, I would like to share briefly my views on the state of play of Turkey-EU relations and the problems we are facing today. My purpose in doing this is to stress the importance of the role civil society organizations can play. As you know, Turkey s accession negotiations started in October 2005 which means that the process has been going on for 4 years. However, the current state of play is simply disappointing. So much so that in this period only 11 of the 35 negotiation chapters were opened and just one was provisionally closed. Opening benchmarks were set for 13 chapters while closing benchmarks were defined for 5 chapters. 8 chapters were suspended due to the impasse in Cyprus issue. 5 further chapters have been blocked by France on the grounds that they would eventually lead to membership. These five chapters include agriculture and rural development, economic and monetary policy, education and culture, financial and budgetary provisions and institutions. Just think about it; you start a negotiation with the EU for full membership but some of the negotiation files will be suspended as they may take you to full membership. In such a case, the honest thing to do would change the name of this negotiation process which Turkey would never accept- or remove your veto.
Chairmen, I think this short explanation puts very clearly the sad situation of EU- Turkey relations. However, I would like to dwell upon it in a little more detail. In recent years, the negative attitude of some European leaders on Turkey s membership, the current financial crisis, the negative approach of European people to Turkey due mainly to prejudices owing to lack of knowledge, have given rise in Turkey to the impression that even if all membership criteria were met, Turkey would somehow not be admitted and that it was being subject to delaying action. This in turn has led to a rapid decline in the number of Turkish citizens that support EU membership. Last September, the Independent Commission on Turkey which brings together such important European figures as former President of Finland and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari along with Kurt Biedenkopf, Hans van den Broek and Michel Rocard published its second report with the title Turkey in Europe: Breaking the vicious circle. The report stresses that Deceleration of Turkey s reform process has on one hand strengthened the opposition in Europe against Turkey s full membership While on the other hand this led to loss of motivation for Turkish reformers and thus a vicious circle has been set. This vicious circle came to overshadow many positive steps Turkey took within the framework of adoption of EU acquis. 2
The breaking of this vicious circle as soon as possible will be in the interest of both Turkey and the EU. In order to do this, attitudes and approaches must change both in Turkey and in Europe. Europeans must fulfill their commitment on Turkey s accession and adopt a fair and equitable attitude towards Turkey. The proposals of privileged partnership or special relationship by some member states clearly violate the principle of pacta sunt servanda since such a proposal is conflict with all EU decisions and commitments t date taken on this point. In the meantime, Turkey should resume broad based reform process covering the government and the opposition and should encourage its many friends in Europe. Chairmen, At this point, I would like to move more closely to the topic of how to communicate Turkey better in Europe and what kind of roles civil society could assume in this. In this context, I would like to quote, the EC Communication of 29 June 2005 on Civil Society Dialogue Between EU and Candidate Countries. According to this Communication, one of the lessons to be learned from the last enlargement round is that The citizens of EU member states were not sufficiently well informed or prepared. However, we cannot stress enough the need to support future enlargements with a strong and consistent dialogue involving the societies of member and candidate countries and as well as EU institutions. This support should Fill knowledge gaps, Help better mutual understanding, 3
Contribute to bringing citizens closer to different cultures, political and economic systems; And help build a stronger awareness about the opportunities and challenges to be brought by future enlargements. In this context, the Commission Recommendation of October 2004 on Turkey s Progress towards accession, it was Proposed that a dialogue be developed whereby the concerns and perceptions between Turkey and Member States would be discussed frankly and openly; And stated that the EU would facilitate this dialogue while civil society should assume important role in the process. The same Communication states the aims of civil society dialogue as follows: - To strengthen the contacts and sharing of experience among all parts of civil society in Member States and candidate countries; - To inform EU countries on opportunities and challenges of future enlargements, - To ensure for this purpose that adequate information on the economies histories and socio-cultural structures of candidate countries is acquired; - And to ensure that the basic values, actions and policies of the EU are well understood in candidate countries. Distinguished participants; We are all aware that in the European public opinion, there is a problem of image and promotion on Turkey s accession due mainly to prejudices and lack of knowledge. We also have misperceptions and misinformation in our country with regard to EU. We should not ignore the fact that communication constitutes the third main column of in EU negotiations and reform process. Therefore the reforms undertaken in Turkey in recent years; 4
Have been communicated to EU countries by public and civil society organizations for communication purposes through various events. However, it is also true that Communication activities targeting EU countries are not being implemented in a planned and conscious way, We have not been successful enough in reaching the target audience, Problems were faced in terms of timing of activities, Evaluation and monitoring of activities could not be done effectively, There has been failure in achieving sufficient failure due to the inability to bring communication activities under a single umbrella, And financial sources are weak and existing sources could not be used efficiently. While there are many things that Turkey can do to promote Turkey s image towards EU citizens, there is a limit to it. Because in order to communicate, we need receivers with antennae set to the right frequency that will absorbs the communication waves we will emit. Paradoxically this can be achieved by EU leaders who dare put forward their vision and political capital. Unfortunately the current perception of paradigm is not suitable for this. There is no doubt that Turkey s accession will be one of the most difficult; one does not need to have the insight of a genius to tell this. However, it is Turkey that must do its homework for accession. The difficulty of Turkey s accession stems from the scale of the country and the requirement that the economic and political transformation must be undertaken while the national consensus on European perspective is being maintained. This is Turkey s internal challenge. And Turkey will overcome this challenge through its own dynamics. 5
As I have mentioned a few minutes ago, the most important mechanism in EU relations is a well organized COMMUNICATON mechanism. Nonetheless, communication is not a one way street. Turkey needs to give each stakeholder in EU coverage and process messages to calm down their concerns through communication instruments whose main players will be civil society organizations. Our expectation should not be a single-directional one like The EU should keep its promise, but instead Turkey should deserve it by doing its homework. Only when these conditions are fulfilled that it will be the EU s turn to keep its promises. The other key message is that Turkey will work to demonstrate its potential contributions to EU in political and cultural fields. Europe should be aware of what it will give up if it does not prefer Turkey s accession to EU. It should act in line with knowledge of this point. Another key message is that in the Communication process, there should be varying communication strategies for each country and stakeholders in every country. There will evidently be common denominators in these strategies and it will eventually be easier to understand each other. This is the right approach that will create the right image of Turkey for EU citizens. Civil society organizations established by our citizens in EU countries are our Windows of opportunity. These windows should be multiplied equipped with well defined and right messages. At this point, I would like to underline two very important developments. In 2009, a Turkish Season was organized in France and this series of events became a golden opportunity for French citizens to realize the cultural values and richness of Turkey. We believe that this activity will contribute to positive developments in perceptions about Turkey in the Turkish public opinion. As Michel Rocard, Jacques Delors, Luc Ferry, Alain Touraine and Edgar Morin hoped in their article in Le Monde, Turkish Season in France helped interrupt though for a short period the discussion in the French public opinion on Turkey s accession which depend on prejudices rather than knowledge. 6
It is necessary and possible to sustain this interruption with the help of Istanbul s year in 2010 as European Culture Capital. 2010 presents Europe the chance to discover the roots of its own culture and while giving Turkey a magnificent opportunity to understand each other with Europe. With 2010 in Đstanbul, Europe will understand how close The Other of Europe is to itself. Indeed, we should create the environment that will make use of the synergy of 2010 and will increase the momentum. The challenge for Europe is not its capacity to absorb Turkey. The issue is, after 20 full years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, whether Europe will want to be divided along religious and cultural walls. From 11/9 to 9/11, the world failed to bring civilizations together; it instead further divided them and in this process Europe could not play an important role. From now on, the question for Europe is whether it will end this process of division or contribute to its deepening. Distinguished participants, I would like to conclude my remarks by quoting a recent speech by Italian Foreign Minister and former Vice President of European Commission Franco Frattini: The day when Turkey becomes an EU member, Europe s second Berlin Wall will have fallen. 7
STATEMENT BY EROL KĐRESEPĐ AT COMMUNICATING TURKEY SEMINAR Chairmen, Stockholm, 2 December 2009 We came together today to discuss how Turkey s accession to the EU can be better communicated and what kind of role civil society organizations can play in this area. Before presenting my concrete suggestions on the point, I would like to share briefly my views on the state of play of Turkey-EU relations and the problems we are facing today. My purpose in doing this is to stress the importance of the role civil society organizations can play. As you know, Turkey s accession negotiations started in October 2005 which means that the process has been going on for 4 years. However, the current state of play is simply disappointing. So much so that in this period only 11 of the 35 negotiation chapters were opened and just one was provisionally closed. Opening benchmarks were set for 13 chapters while closing benchmarks were defined for 5 chapters. 8 chapters were suspended due to the impasse in Cyprus issue. 5 further chapters have been blocked by France on the grounds that they would eventually lead to membership. These five chapters include agriculture and rural development, economic and monetary policy, education and culture, financial and budgetary provisions and institutions. Just think about it; you start a negotiation with the EU for full membership but some of the negotiation files will be suspended as they may take you to full membership. In such a case, the honest thing to do would change the name of this negotiation process which Turkey would never accept- or remove your veto.
Chairmen, I think this short explanation puts very clearly the sad situation of EU- Turkey relations. However, I would like to dwell upon it in a little more detail. In recent years, the negative attitude of some European leaders on Turkey s membership, the current financial crisis, the negative approach of European people to Turkey due mainly to prejudices owing to lack of knowledge, have given rise in Turkey to the impression that even if all membership criteria were met, Turkey would somehow not be admitted and that it was being subject to delaying action. This in turn has led to a rapid decline in the number of Turkish citizens that support EU membership. Last September, the Independent Commission on Turkey which brings together such important European figures as former President of Finland and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari along with Kurt Biedenkopf, Hans van den Broek and Michel Rocard published its second report with the title Turkey in Europe: Breaking the vicious circle. The report stresses that Deceleration of Turkey s reform process has on one hand strengthened the opposition in Europe against Turkey s full membership While on the other hand this led to loss of motivation for Turkish reformers and thus a vicious circle has been set. This vicious circle came to overshadow many positive steps Turkey took within the framework of adoption of EU acquis. 2
The breaking of this vicious circle as soon as possible will be in the interest of both Turkey and the EU. In order to do this, attitudes and approaches must change both in Turkey and in Europe. Europeans must fulfill their commitment on Turkey s accession and adopt a fair and equitable attitude towards Turkey. The proposals of privileged partnership or special relationship by some member states clearly violate the principle of pacta sunt servanda since such a proposal is conflict with all EU decisions and commitments t date taken on this point. In the meantime, Turkey should resume broad based reform process covering the government and the opposition and should encourage its many friends in Europe. Chairmen, At this point, I would like to move more closely to the topic of how to communicate Turkey better in Europe and what kind of roles civil society could assume in this. In this context, I would like to quote, the EC Communication of 29 June 2005 on Civil Society Dialogue Between EU and Candidate Countries. According to this Communication, one of the lessons to be learned from the last enlargement round is that The citizens of EU member states were not sufficiently well informed or prepared. However, we cannot stress enough the need to support future enlargements with a strong and consistent dialogue involving the societies of member and candidate countries and as well as EU institutions. This support should Fill knowledge gaps, Help better mutual understanding, 3
Contribute to bringing citizens closer to different cultures, political and economic systems; And help build a stronger awareness about the opportunities and challenges to be brought by future enlargements. In this context, the Commission Recommendation of October 2004 on Turkey s Progress towards accession, it was Proposed that a dialogue be developed whereby the concerns and perceptions between Turkey and Member States would be discussed frankly and openly; And stated that the EU would facilitate this dialogue while civil society should assume important role in the process. The same Communication states the aims of civil society dialogue as follows: - To strengthen the contacts and sharing of experience among all parts of civil society in Member States and candidate countries; - To inform EU countries on opportunities and challenges of future enlargements, - To ensure for this purpose that adequate information on the economies histories and socio-cultural structures of candidate countries is acquired; - And to ensure that the basic values, actions and policies of the EU are well understood in candidate countries. Distinguished participants; We are all aware that in the European public opinion, there is a problem of image and promotion on Turkey s accession due mainly to prejudices and lack of knowledge. We also have misperceptions and misinformation in our country with regard to EU. We should not ignore the fact that communication constitutes the third main column of in EU negotiations and reform process. Therefore the reforms undertaken in Turkey in recent years; 4