Over a decade ago the then foreign minister Abdullah Gül
awarded me the “Medal of High Distinction” of the Republic of Turkey. I
received the award, consisting of a diploma and a gigantic gold medal, during a
festive ceremony at the Turkish embassy in The Hague. The reason I was deemed
worthy of the medal was that in the preceding years I had actively tried to
inform the Dutch politicians, and the public in general, about Turkey and to
combat prejudices.
By Erik-Jan Zürcher
In the years 2002-2004 the attempts of Turkey to become a
member of the European Union, which even then were forty years old, had picked
up speed. The new Turkish government of the Party of Justice and Development of
prime minister Tayyip Erdoğan, was democratising Turkey at breakneck speed. In
the first two years of the new regime over three hundred laws were passed, the
vast majority of which aimed to dismantle the authoritarian state that was a
legacy of the 1980 military coup and that was still dominated by the army. In
recognition of this, the EU in October 2003 agreed to start membership
negotiations with Turkey as soon as some final requirements had been met. In
December 2004, during a summit in The Hague, the decision to go ahead was
taken.
My small contribution in those years was to argue (in a
report for the Scientific Council for Government Policy WRR among others) that
Turkey could indeed be a part of the EU, because it shared a history with
Europe (after all the centre of gravity of the Ottoman Empire had lain in
southeastern Europe for centuries); and that the fact that 98 percent of the
citizens of Turkey were Muslims should not stand in the way of Turkey’s entry,
because Islam too was part of European history and because after eighty years
secularism had struck deep roots in Turkey, at least as deep as in – for
instance – a country like Poland. I advocated Turkey’s entry into the EU
because I thought that Europe could effectively defend its interests in the
Middle East and the Caucasus region only with Turkey on board.
These arguments are still valid today. What I got completely
wrong was my expectation – and prediction – that the accession process would
strengthen the democratic forces in Turkey and that it would make the
development of the rule of law irrevocable. I ignored warnings from secularist
Turkish friends that Erdoğan was only using the EU and the accession process to
destroy his internal enemies and gradually to increase the role of Islam in
society, seeing them as short-sighted fear mongering. I was wrong, however, and
they were right.
Look where we are now after 14 years and more than ten
election victories for Tayyip Erdoğan and his party:
- Because he thought it would win him the election, Erdoğan
consciously wrecked the peace process with Kurds and reignited the internal war
against the PKK.
- Because he wanted new elections when those of June 2015
did not yield the result he looked for, he sabotaged the formation of a
coalition government, which could have counteracted polarisation.
- Academics who distanced themselves from the renewed war
against the PKK and demanded a resumption of the peace process, are being
persecuted and sometimes have been fired by their universities.
- The media have been emasculated . They either function as
mouthpiece of the regime or adopt self-censorship.
- Social media are tightly controlled and often shut down.
- Journalists and editors who report on secret arms
deliveries of the Turkish secret service to Syrian Jihadists are convicted to
five years in prison for divulging state secrets (so the story was true!)
- The constitutional court of the republic is threatened by
the president, who openly states he does not respect it.
- A prime minster who advocates a somewhat softer (though by
no means liberal) line is brought down by the president.
- Thousands of Turkish citizens are being prosecuted for
“defamation of the president.”
- European citizens who speak critically about Erdoğan, like
Dutch publicist Ebru Umar, are prosecuted and held in Turkey.
- In the mean time the party uses its power monopoly to make
islamic norms and values ever more dominant in the public space – in most
places finding a prayer room is now a lot easier than a seller of alcoholic
beverages.
All of this has convinced me that the Turkey of Tayyip
Erdoğan cannot and should not become a member of the European Union – ever. A
country where politics, the legal system, the media, universities and
individuals (even if they live in Europe) have become playthings for a de-facto
dictator and his clique of sycophants; where the fundamental freedoms and the
rule of law have ceased to function, cannot be a European country. Many of
these characteristics are valid for Hungary as well – an EU member – but
Hungary is small and for the EU as a whole no more than a nuisance. Turkey’s
population is eight times as large and – this is crucial - half of that
population staunchly supports the policies of Erdoğan and even more: venerates
him as the architect and symbol of the “new Turkey.” A Europe in which the
successive crises surrounding the Euro, Greece and the Syrian refugees have
shown that it is only partially built on shared values as it is, could never
tame this Turkey once it is in, it would be destroyed by its accession.
Of course the EU, and the Netherlands, have to deal with
Turkey. We are not alone in this world and the part of the world that respects
human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, is unfortunately
limited and getting smaller. We do business – economically as well as
politically – with other countries that are increasingly in the grip of
nationalist dictators (China, Russia, Egypt) but the point is that, thanks to
Erdoğan, Turkey now fits into that list and not the list of candidate members
of the EU.
That is why the medal will now be carefully packed and sent
back to the embassy. I have hesitated for a long time, not because I had
illusions left about Erdoğan and his ilk, but because such a demonstrative act
might damage others besides myself, notably the dozens of MA and Ph.D. students
that I have supervised over the years, many of whom have returned to Turkey. My
signature is on their diplomas. I feel I have no choice, however. I have to do
this precisely because, as professor of Turkish studies, I am seen as an
authority on Turkey. I have to do it as a sign of protest against the
dictatorial misrule of Erdoğan in Turkey but also in recognition of the fact
that I was wrong twelve years ago: Turkey has not come closer to Europe (as it
seemed in the now far-off years of 2002-2006, but since 2007 it has moved away.
So far away that membership is no longer a realistic option. Our political
leaders should say so loud and clear. Enough is enough.
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dogru lafa ne denir...ekleecek birsey yok....
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