The New York Times

Thursday, December 9, 1999

First Question for Europe: Is Turkey Really European?

By STEPHEN KINZER

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- European leaders will gather for a summit meeting this weekend and confront one of the Continent's oldest and most perplexing questions: is Turkey part of us?

Officially, leaders of the 15-member European Union, who will meet in Helsinki, will decide only whether to consider Turkey's application to join. But the effect of their vote may be far-reaching.

"The delicate issue here is whether we are part of Europe," said Turkish President Suleyman Demirel. "Europe must make a fundamental decision. It cannot be half-hearted."

If Turkey is made an official candidate, it will have to make sweeping political and economic reforms to fulfill conditions for membership. Those reforms in turn could set an example that would resound through the Muslim world and beyond.

An embrace from Europe would also suggest that Europeans are overcoming age-old stereotypes about Turkey. Since the Crusades nine centuries ago, "the Turk" has been a mysterious and threatening figure in the European imagination. For that figure to be invited to the European table as a full partner would mark a decisive break with a long history of conflict and mistrust.

Rejection, on the other hand, would embitter many Turks and might convince some that their country's future lies somewhere other than with the West.

No matter what happens at the meeting, which opens Friday, Turkey will not become a member of the European Union any time soon. Consolidating the necessary reforms here could take a generation or longer. About a dozen countries stand ahead of Turkey in line for membership.

The last time that European leaders considered Turkey's application was in 1997. Their negative vote led to an anti-Europe backlash in Turkey.

Since then, much has changed. Turkey has taken modest steps to improve its human rights record. Its war against Kurdish rebels has subsided since the capture of the rebel leader, Abdullah Ocalan. Perhaps most importantly, it has become friendlier with Greece, its traditional rival.

Greece may play a key role at the summit meeting. A vote to consider Turkey's application must be unanimous, and every member except Greece has at least suggested it will vote in favor.

Greek leaders have refused to commit themselves. They hope to extract promises that Turkey will help break deadlocks over the delicate issues of Cyprus and disputed islands in the Aegean Sea.

Diplomats already in Helsinki are trying to draw up a resolution that would name Turkey as an official candidate for membership but with language that would satisfy Greece.

Turkish leaders insist they cannot accept a resolution that has too many conditions.

"We have no intention of compromising, either on the Aegean or the Cyprus issues," said Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. "Everyone should know that Turkey has alternatives other than the EU."

But Turks are also increasingly aware that, as President Clinton declared during his recent visit to Athens, "Turkey cannot be a member of Europe until it solves its differences with Greece."

As the meeting approaches, Ecevit and other Turkish leaders are trying to appear serene and almost uninterested. They do not want to say anything that could upset either European leaders or Turkish nationalists.

"It is a very interesting moment," said Foreign Minister Ismail Cem. "There are external and internal political balances."

Many European leaders who will support Turkey's bid this weekend remain unhappy about limitations on democracy here. Some worry about the implications of accepting a relatively poor Muslim nation of 65 million.

But they have apparently reached a consensus that the best way to encourage change in Turkey is to offer it the prospect of membership in the European Union.

"I think that what will happen is that Turkey will be granted candidate status," said Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen. But he said Turkey does not yet fulfill "political conditions" for membership, "among other things in the field of human rights."

Several Turkish politicians and commentators have urged the government to make a gesture before the summit meeting, such as withdrawing a token number of soldiers from Cyprus or from bases facing the Aegean.

"All we hear is the old refrain, 'We are not changing our position,"' complained Oktay Eksi, a prominent newspaper columnist. "Since we are not making these gestures, or others like them that would not harm Turkish interests, one becomes suspicious that perhaps those who govern us do not want us to enter the European Union."

Some political and economic groups that fear losing power are said to be dubious about closer ties to Europe. So are some nationalists. But most leading politicians support the idea, as do many ordinary people.

"If we are accepted at Helsinki, it means the ball is in our court," said Adinan Cakariz, who runs a shop at Istanbul's grand bazaar. "We'll have to do some things about human rights, letting Kurds speak their language, and creating an atmosphere of more freedom in Turkey. We should do it, because Europe is our best choice."