Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

  The moderator of the panel, which was organized by the Ankara EU Information Center under the framework of ‘Team of Europe Seminars,’ was TOBB ETÜ’s Rector Prof. Dr. Yücel Altunbaşak.     Altunbaşak, making the opening remarks, stated that the Progress Report was not really providing support for Turkey’s integration in the EU; he also underlined that the opinions in the media were also making similar points. He added that throughout history Turks have turned their faces towards the West. And, he concluded “now Turkey has no option other than integration with the EU.”     Head of the Section of Political Affairs, Press and Information Counsellor Mr. Micheal Miller stated that the Report prepared by European Commission only covers the developments in the last 12 months. And it should not be expected to please everyone.     Miller underlined the importance of law enforcement rather than just the legislation of the EU reform laws. He told the audience that “Turkey is integrated to the EU in economic terms. Do we have any alternative? We both should ask this question to ourselves.”   Prof. Dr. Ahmet O. Evin from Sabancı University, mentioned that Progress Report is a technical document and he observed some contradictions. While he was underlining the evaluations on constitutional amendment, he also added that “What does democracy suppose to mean? The percentages of 58 and 42 cannot be compared to a match score. If it is an advanced democracy, regarding the division of power, the powers should convince each other.”   Journalist – Writer Çiğdem Toker stressed that there are no encouraging expressions in the Report and that in Turkey the EU should not be taken into consideration as an ‘enthusiasm’ but should be considered an a ‘value’. She confessed that Turkey is not doing some of its homework but it is also true that 18 chapters are being blocked by some the EU member states. She emphasized that a new ‘language’ should be created between Turkey and EU as a mean for communication.     Miller, while answering some of the questions from the audience, told that the EU is not a Christian Club. He added “the EU is secular. Religion is really a private matter for us. In other words, the EU has no religion and does not favor Islamophobia”. TOBB ETÜ’s Rector Altunbaşak responded that the EU is secular but that Christianity is embedded in its culture.     In Prof. Dr. Ahmet O. Evin’s response to another question from the audience, he mentioned that the integration problem of Turks living in the EU has a negative impact on Turkey’s integration process.   Journalist – Writer Çiğdem Toker gave the example of the EU liberalization of visas to Bosnia - Herzegovina and Albania but not to Turkey. She claimed that this was an example of the EU’s attitude to consider Turkey as the ‘other’.