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Wolfowitz:
“It really is impossible to overstate how decisive this period
is”
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WASHINGTON,
December 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Beyond bolstering its
immediate and short-term aims in Iraq and Cyprus, the United States is
pressing a reluctant European Union to admit Turkey to promote its
greater foreign policy goals in the Muslim and Arab world, according
to U.S. officials.
As
a secular Muslim state with western aspirations, Turkey is seen in
Washington as a potentially powerful role model for Middle East
countries awash in a rising tide of so-called “militant” Islam,
the officials say, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“The
idea that there is no inconsistency between Islam and democracy is an
important principle for the Muslim world, so we want to see the Turks
succeed,” one senior State Department official told AFP on condition
of anonymity.
Rewarding
Turkey with E.U. membership will thus assist with the U.S.-led war on
terrorism and reap dividends as it seeks to quell the roots of
extremist violence by quelling anti-western sentiment in Arab and
Muslim nations, the official added.
On
his way to Ankara to court Turkish support on Iraq this week, U.S.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz made the same point in London,
urging the European Union to welcome Turkey into its fold during its
December 12-13 summit in Copenhagen.
“It
really is impossible to overstate how decisive this period is,” he
said. “The Turks are striving to develop a free and democratic and
tolerant society that could be a useful model for others in the Muslim
world.”
“It
is the great good fortune for NATO and the West, indeed of the world,
that Turkey - one of the strongest, most reliable, most self-reliant
of allies - occupies one of the most strategic crossroads of the
world,” he said.
Later
in Ankara, Wolfowitz lauded Turkey’s new ruling party for affirming
its commitment “to the values that have been at the heart of Turkish
aspirations since the founding of Turkish democracy early in the last
century.”
And
he rewarded the chairman of the Justice and Development Party, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, with an invitation to the White House.
The
senior State Department official and others acknowledged that
Turkey’s E.U. status has been given greater urgency by
Washington’s desire for Ankara’s assistance in a possible war with
Iraq.
And
they allowed that their ardent desire to end intra-NATO tensions
between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus has also played a role in their
stepped-up lobbying campaign.
But
the officials insisted that the wariness with which they will be
watching the Copenhagen summit will be chiefly based on fears that
another snub of Turkey will hurt longer-term U.S. objectives.
“To
be sure, the quid pro quo in the short run is help on Iraq and further
down the line, we believe E.U. accession will make the Turks more
flexible on Cyprus,” a second senior official said.
“But
in the long-run, we are looking for something beyond talk to show that
the great Muslim-Christian divide can be overcome,” the official
said.
“If
we are ever going to make progress on this, we have got to get over
lingering European memories of the Ottoman Empire as the centuries-old
enemy,” the official said.
In
October, Washington reacted icily when the E.U. refused to set a date
to begin accession talks with Turkey, calling for such discussion to
begin “as soon as possible.”
At
the time, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher appealed for the
Europeans to understand that “it’s in the strategic interest of
the United States and the European Union, Turkey and the European
Union, that Turkey and the European Union build the closest possible
relationship.”
Since
then, officials said Washington has been pressing Germany and France -
the two E.U. members most reluctant to admit Turkey - on the matter.
“We
know the French are concerned about a new wave of Muslim migration and
the Germans are already dealing with thousands of illegal Turkish
immigrants, but the stakes here are higher and we have been telling
them that,” one official said. Washington’s efforts may be
paying off.
Late
Wednesday, December 4, French President Jacques Chirac and German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said they had agreed on a common position
to take in Copenhagen that will result in a “strong signal toward
Turkey.”
Meanwhile,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of Turkey’s ruling party, embarks
Monday on a last-ditch diplomatic offensive to win a firm date from
this week’s European Union summit for the start of negotiations to
join the 15-nation bloc.
Erdogan,
who heads the Justice and Development Party (AKP), will hold talks in
Copenhagen with Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark, the
current holder of the rotating E.U. presidency, just three days before
the Union’s Copenhagen summit on its historic eastwards expansion.
At
the December 12-13 summit, European leaders are poised to formally
invite 10 candidate countries to become members in 2004, but the core
issue of deliberations is expected to be Turkey’s demand for a date
for accession negotiations.
Turkey,
the only country among 13 E.U. hopefuls not to have begun entry talks
with the Union, claims it has earned the right for a date because of
the reforms it has recently adopted.
But
the E.U. seems to have a different opinion and has underlined the need
for more progress to catch up with European norms.
