Awarding Istanbul the title of ‘European Capital of Culture’ is a great opportunity for Europe to understand Turkey and for Turkey to better understand the EU, Egemen Bağış, Turkey’s EU chief negotiator, told the European Parliament on 2 February.
Bağış, who is also a member of parliament for Istanbul and a promoter of the city as European cultural capital for 2010, told MEPs that he “cannot imagine Europe without Istanbul,” a metropolis which was once the capital of the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
Tapping into the fascination surrounding the unique historic heritage of the city formerly known as Constantinople, Bağış quickly waded into arguments about the EU’s interest in taking on board his nation of 72 million people.
“Europe is the problem, Turkey is the solution,” said Bağış, explaining that ageing European societies could benefit from the accession of a country where the average age of the population is 28, compared to 42 in the European Union.
“We have the fourth largest workforce […] The famous French automaker Renault had all facilities going at loss in 2008, except for the facilities in Romania and Turkey,” said Bağış.
He said debate was rife over where Renault’s new facilities should be built: in France or in Bursa, Turkey. “Of course, Renault executives said, if we don’t build in Turkey, we will lose money,” Bağış said.
The Turkish minister seemingly wished to dispel lingering doubts that a large Muslim country would bring terrorism and extremism to Europe.
“The kids who turn cars over in France and burn them do not come from Morocco or Algiers. They were born in Paris. The terrorists that attacked London were not from Pakistan. They were born in London. They received education in the UK and they chose to become terrorists,” he argued.
Hüsamettin Kavi, chairman of Istanbul 2010’s advisory board, said that obtaining the title of cultural capital had helped to develop a ‘civil platform’ since 2008, when the award was made, and had given Turkey’s cultural development an unprecedented boost.
“We believe that Istanbul is the most inspiring city in the world,” he said, adding that the former Constantionople is “at the east of the West and at the west of the East”.
Berel Madra, visual arts director of Istanbul 2010, spoke of the “sustainable effect” of being cultural capital, which is expected to bring advantages to the country’s biggest city well beyond the current year. Citing an example, he said he expected the number of foreign tourists visiting Istanbul to increase from the present level of seven million per year to 10 million in 2010.
Asked by EurActiv to comment on the fact that the launch event of Istanbul 2010 in the European Parliament was mostly attended by MEPs from the centre-left, the Liberals and the Greens, with the centre-right EPP group largely absent, Cengiz Aktar, international affairs director of Istanbul 2010, singled out the name of EPP-affiliated Dutch MEP Ria Oomen-Ruitjen, who strongly supports the initiative.
But Aktar nevertheless admitted that the EPP group was “divided” regarding Turkey’s EU accession bid.
Turkish journalists present at the event shared their impression that the number of Turkish officials who had come to Brussels for the occasion vastly outnumbered the number of MEPs present.