WHY TURKEY?

EU Membership will Mean End of Independent Turkish State

Interview with Durmus Hocaoglu
Assoc. Prof. at Marmara Univ., Istanbul

Associate Professor Durmus Hocaoglu is a faculty member at Marmara University. Essentially a physician, Hocaoglu is also interested in political and philosophical topics.

Why do you oppose Turkey's EU membership?

Bearing in mind that starting a speech with classifications such as "supporter," "opponent" or "neutral" could be both repulsive and misleading, I, first of all, deem it necessary to clarify two points that make up the backbone of the issue. The first is to briefly analyze the true nature of the EU, and the other is, in the light of this analysis, to search for an answer to the question "end" or "continue" our approximately 1,000-year-old independent, autonomous and sovereign existence, which began in this geography with the Seljuk and Ottoman Empires and is still continuing with the Republic. In this case, the question should be reduced to "where is it that we want to join?" -- that is to say the EU.

The EU's ideological foundations and archaic incubation period could be dated back to final years of Rome, to Augustinus' "ideal of Christian Unity." This ideal that envisaged the entire Christian world being one and undivided, difficult to break apart, and aiming to turn European nations and states, that constitute Europe and share the same culture, civilization and religion into one unique European state, and hence, in the final phase, into one unique people/nation, homogenized as much as possible within the framework of the same "European" identity, is the most extensively political engineering project known in history so far. Kept alive by important thinkers for centuries, this ideal was fed by countless "European civil wars," in which European states attempted to conquer each other in the era of ferocious nationalism and nation-states. They emerged from the most bloody European civil war, the Second World War, as the only way of salvation, and finally turned into a concrete political project with the speech [Sir Winston] Churchill made at the opening of Zurich University in September 1946: Europe will either - whatever its official title is - move towards a new and radical political and social organization in the shape of the American model, federal, "a kind of United States of Europe," or experience a mass collapse in cultural, civilization, economic and military terms. Here is the summary of the EU:

Building of a confederated or federal European state. The EU will either achieve this goal, or perhaps will dissolve and fade away with a very severe crisis. A middling solution is impossible.

Within this framework, by attracting the attention of those states and societies, that want to become members, to the fact that the EU is not only an "economic union" or "alliance," but, in fact, a "union" that tends to absorb all member nation-states and turn them into one state, I would like to remind everyone of these naked facts: -National sovereignty and independence of member states will gradually be abolished.- To build a Big European State, which can be read as a "Second Rome, member states will be forcibly subjected to "fragmentation."

When these are bethought, I find it unnecessary to explain that the vote of a patriot, who loves his nation and state, believing that independence and sovereignty are "indispensable, cannot be handed over and cannot be shared," carrying the consciousness and liability of his history in his conscience, and hence, considering it even morally forbidden (haram) to envisage sacrificing an "independent, unique and sovereign" state under any circumstance and condition, on Turkey's EU membership should be: Turkey, go on forever!

How do you evaluate most Turkish people who support this process?

However, surveys should be viewed cautiously, even if we accept these figures as true, a close examination of the surveys leads to a different result: Turkish people's knowledge of the EU, those with higher education, even if most in the academic circles are included, is at a tragic level of misery! Even an article on the subject, entitled, "L'imaginaire Européen de La Turquie," by Nicolas Monceau in Le Monde on October 5, 2004 indicates that while Turks want their country's membership in the EU, according to European barometer results, they do not know the EU and do not even have the minimum information about it. The article also presents some interesting figures:

Out of the approximately 71 percent of Turkish people who support EU membership, 76 percent have no information about the EU in general, and yet another example, 34 percent know nothing about EU institutions and symbols! Take note of the title of the article: "Turkey's Imaginary Europe." Besides, I think there are several reasons for this intensive interest:

- The media's extraordinary contribution, carrying out intense propaganda instead of providing sound information about the EU;

- "The cosmopolitation" created by the February 28 process among pious Muslims;

- The indignation felt towards the hard-to-break anti- sovereignty elites, detached from society and unable to reach agreement with their respective societies;

- A strong conviction of the people that the EU will shower them with cash and jobs, and a kind of desire to plunder the blessings they themselves did not produce, and of a civilization they themselves did not build.

From the opposite perspective, wouldn't Turkey affect the EU with its own values and multi-culturism?

This is a question that deserves a broad critical answer, however, let me say briefly: Which values? Is it to make Europe Muslim by exporting Islam to the continent, as some of our naive Muslim brothers, who have become radical EU partisans all of a sudden, and are now dreaming with eyes wide open, even though, until recently, the reason of their existence was to be anti-West?

There is no need for these our brothers to be optimistic, and for B. Lewis who says, "Europe will be Islamized at the end of this century"(Die Welt, 26.07.2004), to be afraid. No such thing will happen. What other values? Turkish? How many people have the 5 million Turks living in Europe for 40 years been able to teach Turkish so far? The fourth generation in Europe cannot speak Turkish. What else? "Sis kebab and raki"?… Here, I will dwell on those two points as well: Europe has not been transformed by any foreign culture and civilization that has internalized within it and will never be. On the contrary, Europe has transformed them and will continue to do so. Secondly, Turkey and Turks will join the EU not as "one and undivided" Turkey and Turkish people," but in a fragmented and deflated state. Let's think about a 100 years after this adventure, I wonder who will transform who?

What do you think is the alternative to the EU? What kind of relations with the EU do you propose?

First of all, saying that what they have granted is the guarantee of what they will grant, I would like to draw the attention of those who believe that Turkey will gain prosperity from the EU, to the Customs Union: What is the guarantee that what we could not gain from the Customs Union will be what we shall gain through EU membership? Secondly, I would like to remind everyone that "funding," the propaganda that has been made since 2004 will cease, and free movement will not be permitted even in case of full membership. The third is a more philosophical warning: Europe does not give an inch, if it does not take a mile; this is both the requisite of the logic of capitalism and the mentality of Europe. We should not forget that He opposes European Union (EU) membership due to historical and cultural reasons. For him, full membership will mean the end of independent Turkish state that has existed for thousands of years. capitalism is based on exploitation and European history is a history of exploitation. That the EU is the only alternative and only way to prosperity is a highly shallow EU lobby propaganda. Turkey has all the capabilities to achieve prosperity: I would like to ask about my country's resources which have not been tapped so far (just one example: where in Europe does such a geography exist?) and besides, Japan and China have developed enormously in spite of not being within such an order like the EU. Yes, the EU is a reality; however, the most rational model of relations for Turkey, as an independent and sovereign state, is good neighborly ties with the EU.

By Zafer Ozcan