To become stronger internationally, Europe must take Turkey on board, Yuhishthir Raj Isar, a professor at the American University in Paris, told EurActiv in an interview.
Isar was speaking after an event in the European Parliament marking the launch of Istanbul’s year as European Capital of Culture for 2010 (2 February), at which he was one of the keynote speakers.
“There is no reason why Europe, a continent which already has a high number of Muslims, is afraid of a country which is predominantly Muslim,” he said.
Isar pointed to Europe’s history, stressing that “the borders of Europe’s family have always been very mobile”.
Isar, who is also president of the European Forum for Arts and Heritage (EFAH), explained that for ancient Athenians, “Europe was to the south of Bulgaria”.
Indeed, according to scientists, ‘Europe’, which according to legend is the name of a Phoenician princess abducted by Zeus and who assumed the form of a bull, is in fact the name of a diocese of the Thracian province of the Roman Empire in around 400 A.D.
This diocese covers territory in southern Bulgaria, southern Greece and European Turkey.
“We haven’t done Europe as a sign of cultural nationalism,” but for “pragmatic reasons, both political and economic,” Isar said.
“Today, this family of countries is threatened by what we might call ‘Ch-India’, the power of China and India together,” he mused. “To exist internationally in a globalised world, regional unions give strength and cohesion to the many individual countries,” he added.
Born in India and a naturalised Frenchman, Isar said that his double culture gave him a “particular glance”. “India is somehow a successful Europe,” he said, explaining that “India is composed of more than 20 different countries with their own languages and cultures”.
Isar said that before becoming an EU axiom, ‘United in Diversity’ had served as the motto of the Indian Union since its independence in 1950.
Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjørn Jagland says it would be of great help if Turkey adopted a new constitution in line with European norms.
Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjørn Jagland has said Turkey, along with Russia and the European Union, is a global player and has much to contribute in boosting the status of the 47-nation European institution.
In an exclusive interview with Sunday’s Zaman, Jagland said the interests of the council are perfectly aligned with the interests of Turkey on a number of issues and expressed his hope that Turkey would be of great help in reforming the organization.
“It was certainly a historic moment when the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] elected its first Muslim president,” he said, referring to the election of Turkish deputy Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu last week in Strasbourg. “This has happened for the first time, the first in any European institution,” he added. Jagland sees the election of Çavuşoğlu as a clear signal that Europe has become a multicultural and multi-religious continent. “It certainly gives us an opportunity to overcome new and old dividing lines in Europe, be it culturally or in terms of religion,” he underlined.
The head of the human rights watchdog strongly believes that issues emanating from multiculturalism and multi-religiosity are high on the agenda in Europe. “The Council of Europe is an excellent forum for trying to bring people together and meeting this challenge,” he said, adding that the timing was just right for a Turk to be elected as the head of the assembly. “He can bring new ideas to the table. It is a great opportunity to work together with him,” Jagland said.
Reform needed
With his high expectations for reforming the institution, Secretary-General Jagland has fresh ideas in mind and believes he has found receptive ears in many capitals of Europe including Ankara. “I am quite optimistic as the mood is very good now. Everybody realizes now that we have to adapt to new realities. Europe has changed. The Lisbon Treaty has come into force. Turkey is becoming more and more important. So is Russia. We need to modernize ourselves,” he said.
Jagland has recently unveiled his plan to revitalize the Council of Europe as a political body and an innovative, flexible organization, in close cooperation with its staff and stakeholders, making it more visible and relevant for the citizens of Europe. He said the organization should concentrate on fewer projects, selected for the added value and comparative advantages they offer. His proposals were unanimously endorsed by the Committee of Ministers.
He concedes that the overhaul will be a long process. “I know it is not going to be easy. We have a history of 60 years, and it is not easy to reform an old institution. But the base support is very strong. I have been to many governments to talk about this. They have given clear signals in that regard,” he underlined.
Asked what tops the list of reforms, the secretary-general said, “The first priority is to make the organization more focused on the issues where we have a comparative advantage and where we can have added value.” Jagland is like an entrepreneur looking for a niche market to amplify the return on his investment. He disagrees with this analogy, however, and stresses: “We are not looking for a small niche here. Our aim is way higher. It is not a small niche market we are looking for.”
In fact, he has taken on a very challenging task. Against the backdrop of its powers being encroached upon by other organizations, Jagland has to make the organization stand out from other European institutions such as the EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). One of the challenges he is facing is coordinating the Council of Europe’s role with the EU and OSCE. “We need to look for an overall role vis-à-vis other European institutions,” he underlined.
A single platform for law across Europe
It looks like Jagland has found the perfect platform for his campaign to achieve this: creating a single platform for law for all organizations in Europe under the stewardship of the Council of Europe’s legal arm, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). “The first aim is to get the EU to accede to the ECtHR and the European Convention on Human Rights now that the Lisbon Treaty has come into force,” he noted, stressing that it would be the basis for the mandate to create a culture of Europe. According to him, that would be achieved with the creation of one legal platform across the continent based on common standards, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
It certainly sounds ambitious but Jagland believes the Council of Europe is the only institution that is perfectly placed to embark on that journey. “We can reach out to all European countries and Turkey and Russia, which are not members of the EU. This is the priority for us,” he noted. The Council of Europe’s status was boosted two weeks ago when the Russian Parliament finally ratified the long-delayed Protocol 14 of the convention. “This would help reform the court in becoming an effective instrument across the entire continent,” Jagland said. He is happy to see that the Russians are completely on board. “They have given a clear signal that they want to access to the court. The EU can do the same. Then we would have achieved a great deal. We in fact created this legal space for everybody. This is an unprecedented development, not only for Europe but also for the whole world,” he remarked.
Turkey should do more
The secretary-general agrees with newly elected head of PACE, Çavuşoğlu, who called on Turkey to draft a new civil constitution. Though he cautions that his job does not allow him to interfere in domestic politics, he nevertheless thinks it would be a great help if the country adopts a new constitution in line with European norms. “As I understand it, many Turks are asking for this. It is the right time to draft a new one,” he said.
He also said that he is concerned with human rights violations in Turkey. The ECtHR found last week in its report that Turkey is by far the worst violator of human rights. Jagland acknowledges that there have been positive developments in Turkey with respect to protecting human rights. “The number of cases is still high, however,” he said. “It could be the case that the court is more widely known and is very popular in Turkey and I welcome that,” he added.
Nonetheless Jagland believes Turkey is a very important country in Europe and is on the way to becoming a global player. “I have always attached great importance to the role Turkey plays in Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus. It is very much needed,” he emphasized. The secretary-general will be paying a three-day visit to Turkey next week starting on Sunday. He recalled that US President Barack Obama paid his first official visit to Turkey and argues that that by itself is a testament to the fact that the country is becoming a global player. “We should make a note of that in Europe,” he said.
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.
[The European Commission’s television channel] Euronews has launched its new Turkish service, the channel’s ninth language to be broadcast 24/7.
In Istanbul the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to assembled guests to help kick start the new service.
“Euronews is the most watched news channel in the world,” he said. “It is starting its Turkish broadcasting today as the ninth language. From now on it will address the world in Turkish too.”
The Turkish journalists arrived in mid-November and have been hard at work adapting to their new environment.
Welcome to Turkey, the country that straddles both Asia and Europe.
Turkey’s ambassador in the Austrian capital met with Austria’s education minister on Tuesday.
Turkey’s ambassador in the Austrian capital met with Austria’s education minister on Tuesday.
Speaking to AA after his meeting with Austrian Minister for Education, Arts & Culture Claudia Schmied, Turkish ambassador in Vienna Ecvet Tevzan said that they agreed during the gathering to sign a cooperation agreement on education and culture.
Tevzan said Turkish Education Minister Nimet Cubukcu would pay a visit to Austria in near future, while her Austrian counterpart Schmied would visit Turkey in June.
“We have also agreed to start a teacher exchange program between Turkey and Austria which envisages teachers to be assigned in each other’s countries for 3 months to do research,” Tevzan said.
Tevzan said that problems of Turkish children studying in Austria were also on the agenda of his meeting with the Austrian minister.
He said a department would be opened within the body of Vienna University in order to train teachers of Turkish language.
