ISTANBUL, 30 September 2005 — It may take 10 years before Turkey joins the European Union, but even at this nascent stage of negotiations EU demands have inflamed Turkish nationalism. The constant stream of criticism from the European Union has revived memories of Western meddling in the 19th and early 20th centuries that put an end to Turkey’s empire and, but for a nationalist uprising, would have dismembered Turkey itself.
“The whole issue of nationalism represents the most difficult and the deepest gap between Turkey and the EU,” said one Turkey-based EU diplomat. While the EU was formed to overcome the discredited nationalism that came close to destroying the continent in World War II, Turkish identity was forged by Kemal Ataturk’s 1920s nationalist struggle that fought off French, British and Greek invaders and suppressed Kurdish and Islamist threats.
Thus European calls for more rights for the Kurds, pressure over Cyprus and for Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide 90 years ago, unite the far right, far left and many in the secular establishment against what they see as underhand EU plots. “Turkey is experiencing the same betrayal by intellectuals that broke up the Ottoman Empire,” said nationalist party leader Muhsin Yazicioglu this month. While most Turks still favor joining the EU, support has fallen from 73 percent a year ago to 63 percent in a recent survey. However, as Turkey and the EU get down to the nitty-gritty of negotiations, support could fall even further, analysts say. “There is only one fault line in Turkey and that is between those for and against the EU,” said Istanbul University professor Mehmet Altan.
Meanwhile, opposition in Europe to Turkey’s membership — as high as 80 percent in Austria and 74 percent in Germany — feeds the sense of suspicion and discrimination felt by many Turks. This has made for some strange bedfellows. Scruffy leftists with bushy Lenin beards found themselves rubbing shoulders with smart dark-suited right-wing nationalists last weekend at a demonstration against an Istanbul conference by liberal academics discussing claims of Armenian genocide. “No EU, no USA, but a completely independent Turkey,” the leftists chanted, pointing angrily at the EU flag flying above the exclusive private university hosting the conference. “Turkey is Turkish and will stay Turkish,” the rightists clamored, in similar vein. The EU closely watched the conference controversy. “We see this is a question of whether the Turkish mentality can change and whether openness can prevail over those who prefer a nationalist view of their history,” the diplomat said.
Both the right-wing Nationalist Action Party and the Turkish Communist Party are planning anti-EU protests on Oct. 2, the day before Brussels is due to start that could lead to Turkey’s eventual entry to the bloc. However, more worrying for Turkey’s EU supporters and Turkish liberals dreaming of shedding their oriental past is the depth of nationalism in the establishment and the army. For most Turks, Kemal Ataturk is still a hero who saved Turkey from foreign forces during and after World War I, restored national pride and turned the country toward Europe. However for some, his state-centered, top-down legacy sits uneasily with the pluralist EU Turkey seeks to join. “The way to democratize this country, to realize individual rights and freedoms, to transform a Kemalist state into a democratic state which values people is the EU,” said Altan.
The so-called “deep state” and the powerful military are uneasy about surrendering any sovereignty to Brussels, he said. Europe is “trying to change our national culture by imposing foreign values, fashion and languages that do not match Turkish customs and traditions”, complained Turkish Chief of General Staff Hilmi Ozkok this year. Increased Kurdish rebel attacks and a violent nationalist backlash have raised tension in Turkey ahead of Oct. 3 and undermined Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government which has cast aside its Islamist roots to champion Turkey’s EU cause.
However, many in Erdogan’s own party, including ministers, come from a nationalist background. They, and many across the political spectrum, could balk at too many concessions to EU demands on Cyprus, the Kurds and minority rights. “When they get bored by this EU process and because they cannot offer any logical counterargument, they’ll get angry and work up nationalist reaction,” Altan said. “It is a reaction by those fattened in the past and represents their helplessness.”
