France, who gave birth to the idea of the European Union (EU), and which is the homeland of Cartesian logic and the castle of secularism, will hold a referendum to vote on the first constitution in the history of the EU on May 29th.
Despite the fact that the idea of a constitution was carried to the agenda by France at the Laeken Summit in 2001 and the team that prepared the Constitution was led by a French official (former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing), French people are likely to vote"no" in the referendum on May 29th.
While the French have been intensively discussing the constitution, which they want to be in line with their traditions, one of the most important matters of debate is Turkey's possible future EU membership. Several French politicians from right to left on the political spectrum link Turkey's membership with the constitution and are calling on the French public to vote "no" on May 29th. It is an exaggeration to say that French people will vote "no" on the constitution only because of Turkey. As a matter of fact, French people also complain about the EU's moving away from the concept of enlargement and the understanding of a social state. One of the most controversial issues, however, is Turkey. Some French citizens, despite the fact that they would probably vote "yes" to Turkey's membership in a referendum that will be held after 10 or 15 years if Turkey completes EU negotiations with success, are asking "Why do we wait for 15 years? Let's say "no" to Turkey as of now." Turning the so-called Armenian "genocide" allegations into a principle in the world for the first time, France has a public, which has the deepest objection to Turkey's EU membership. Thıs attitude in France is hypocritical. As a matter of fact, Turkey's "tough" secularism, administrative system and linguistic borrowings when it encountered with the modern West are all from France. İn short, France has parallels with Turkey. Despite this fact, Turks are anxious this time that their march towards Europe will be blocked in Paris. It is rumored that French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said: "Forget about negotiations on October 3rd." if the French would vote "no" on the Constitution in the referendum on May 29th.
How has opposition against Turkey increased?
While describing France, the diplomats agree upon three characteristics: high self-confidence, a great deal of contradicton within itself and having no mean opinion of itself to the point of arrogance from time to time. Some say, 'You can appreciate France; however, you cannot like it'. There are some books published with titles as such, 'Why do we like France, not the French?'
Why does a nation, which taught Europe logic, behave so illogically when Turkey is at issue? Do the French deserve the 'sick man' title of the Ottomans now? Didier Billion, who is a Turkish expert in IRIS (Institute de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques), located in Paris, thinks that France is now sick. According to Billion, when the European Union (EU) had only six members, France was the leader, now it is one of 25 members, so when it sees that its effect has diminished, it gets peevish and feels isolated. Billion thinks that the increasing opposition against Turkey's accesion to the EU in France is related to domestic politics and unrelated with Turkey itself.
"In France, there is a conflict between the right-wing extremists and the central right. The right-wing extremists follow a path, which is against the Islamic world; and has a voting potential between 15-20 percent. The leader of National Front Party (FN) Le Pen and the leader of the Movement Party of France (MPF) Phillippe de Villiers will try to achieve new successes in the future elections by making use of opposition against Turkey; however, the actual problem is with the Republican parties such as the Union for the Popular Movement (UMP) and the Union for French Democracy (UDF). Saying, "UMP and UDF follow this policy due to reasons for elections", Billion explains that Turkey is the mirror of France's complaints about the EU and the Islamic world, and even the scapegoat. Indicating that the Turkey discussion in France is not a 'real' one, Billion thinks that the politicians use Turkey for their political careers. Billion charges Nicholas Sarkozy, who is the leader of UMP, with this behavior. "There is not a real discussion in France, the discussion is among the politicians. The discussions on Turkey used in political competition are not healthy. For example, Sarkozy has many goals for the future, but he is not a real statesman. He is an opportunistic politican who wants to be a hero. Sarkozy's attitude about the Turkey issue does not reflect the attitude of a real statesman." According to Billion, the second issue is the migration problem that France developed in line with its 'fantasies'. According to these 'fantasies' when Turkey becomes an EU member, the French people will lose their jobs because Turkish people will occupy European markets with their cheap labor force. |
