Over the past months, there is one question that seems unavoidable during interviews I give on Turkey: "Do you think that the Turkish government still puts enough efforts into complying with European Union criteria?" An important question, that is easier to ask than to answer.
From outside it is difficult to judge the fervour of the Turkish administration in carrying out reforms. The eventual entry into force of the new penal code on June 1st is an important and visible step. Other important reforms and their implementation take place within all the different layers of the Turkish administration. They sometimes take time and stay invisible for outsiders.
But apart from the essential legal and administrative reforms there is the very visible side of Turkish reform: the way the Turkish government reacts on "snooping" from outside. For politicians and public opinion in Europe the maturity of the Turkish government in handling criticism and setbacks is an essential test for EU-compliance. It may sometimes be difficult for Turkey to get used to the fact that all European eyes are turned in the direction of the Bosporus. But membership of a community of values means that to a certain degree internal affairs become everyone's business. Although they may be sometimes hard to cope with, it is part of the strength of the European Union.
Two recent events in Turkey showed that the government still finds it hard to deal with this kind of European interference. The first was the police violence used against demonstrators for women's rights in Istanbul on March 6th. European public opinion and politicians were - rightly - shocked by the images they saw of police brutality against peaceful demonstrators. In this event, the Turkish government should have reacted more promptly to show the outside world the inadmissibility of such behaviour by civil servants in an open democracy like Turkey, and their determination to punish the perpetrators.
Another regrettable event concerns the defamation and death threats against my friend, the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, accused by a minority of the Turkish public opinion of high treason. Even representatives of local authorities took part in the campaign against Pamuk, who was forced to leave his country for a while for safety reasons. The government missed a chance to show Europe that it does not accept such expressions of hatred and intolerance and that those responsible will be prosecuted. Together with the President of the Green group in the European Parliament, Dany Cohn-Bendit and my German colleague Cem Özdemir I sent an open letter to Mr. Erdogan asking him to publicly condemn this defamation, but he remained silent.
But there is not only bad news. The restrained reaction in Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights' ruling on the Öcalan process was an example of how the government should act to win the hearts and minds of the Europeans. The declaration that Turkey will respect the ruling and reopen the Öcalan-case, even if this is perceived as contrary to the country's direct interest, is a sign of maturity. It will give the European public and its leaders confidence in Turkish willingness to comply with European standards.
There will only be more 'snooping' by Europeans in the run-up to the opening of the negotiations between Turkey and the EU in autumn. This is something the government will not only have to accept and recognize - Mr. Erdogan will have to put all his efforts in accommodating the snoopers. In stead of supplying new munitions for opponents of Turkish EU-membership, the government should be actively involved in strengthening the image of Turkey as a country respecting the founding values of the EU. For instance, instead of threatening countries that pass resolutions recognising the Armenian genocide with a 'tit for tat' policy, it would be wiser to show Turkey's willingness to cooperate with Armenia on practical issues.
As a politician I know how hard it can be to have all eyes turned to you. But it can also be very gratifying, and I am convinced that Europe's snooping on Turkey will in the end turn out to be beneficial for Turkey and the Turks themselves.
Joost Lagendijk
Member of the European Parliament (Greens /EFA Group)
Chairman of the EU-Turkey Delegation