Those of us who studied history at school well remember Turkey being dismissed as the ‘sick man of Europe’. There is a pathetic irony in this with the main item in our media being devoted to Harry’s managed excursion to the front line in Afghanistan while current events in Turkey have pivotal importance for our globalised world.
Whatever you think of these four vital issues: Turkey’s incursions into Northern Iraq; the decision to allow headscarves to be worn at its universities; support for unifying North and South Cyprus; and recognition of Kosovo, prime minister Erdogan and foreign minister Gul have played their hand in a masterly way. The move to allow headscarves to be worn in direct contravention of the secular precepts set down by Ataturk should have meant tanks on the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. But the ruling AK administration allowed the first incursion of Turkish troops into Northern Iraq, against the wishes of the Americans and the EU. The army have judged that being allowed to peruse the PKK into Iraq was more important than a display of force to ensure increasingly irrelevant symbols of secularism.
The Americans and the EU have issued expressions of mild concern about a move which, if it escalates, could further destabilise the whole region, and appear to be satisfied with Turkish statements that the duration of the incursion will be limited. Objectively, there must be genuine doubts about claims that the excursion will achieve the vital blow against the PKK as much of the Turkish media claim. Similar attacks have taken place since 1984 and yet outrages against Turkish soldiers and civilians have increased in recent months. If the focus of the PKK’s activities now moves into Turkish cities and inevitably involves ordinary Kurds, the whole operation will have been counterproductive. It will highlight the Turk’s preoccupation with their national identity and could throw into reverse the considerable improvements achieved in preparation for entry into the EU.
By taking action in northern Iraq, the Turks are saying to the big players in the region like Russia – ‘I’m part of the equation’. They are also saying that there is no way that there can be a settlement in northern Iraq that does not involve Turkey. Turkey justifies violating the Iraq border by claiming that NATO rules give it the right to seek out terrorists wherever they roam.
Back in the UK, our media crying ‘Harry and for England’, evokes Chamberlain’s comment about a far distant country about which we know nothing and care even less. However, oil prices have increased to over $100 a barrel, partly because of fears that the Turkish invasion will restrict the flow of oil from northern Iraq. Further, Turkey itself is now an oil and gas transportation hub. The UN, while calling upon Turkey to respect international borders, also calls upon the PKK to cease its raids into Turkey.
All this mention of the border ignores the elements of civil war in the conflict, with Kurdish soldiers fighting terrorists who might be their own relatives. A shopkeeper in the border region says, ‘I have relatives in northern Iraq and I am very worried about this operation. We don’t want the military attacking the civilians.’
Further west, as Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy succumb to increasing anti-Turkish prejudice, the UK must continue to support Turkish entry into the EU. The challenge is to resolve the conflict between Europe’s view of Turkey and the Turks’ view of Europe.
Some within the EU fear the fast rate of Turkey’s population growth compared to the rest of Europe, its Muslim identity, and the possibility of large numbers of Turks moving west. There is also the question of the adoption of European standards of human rights, democracy, and the free market. It will be interesting to see how the headscarf issue will play internally in Turkey. Could it be a sign of the AK’s cooling attitude towards EU membership?