Abstract:

A turning point in the sometimes difficult history of relations between Brussels and Ankara was marked by the decision at the European summit in Helsinki (December 1999) to accord candidates status to Turkey for entry into the EU. The main arguments, which had prevented Turkey’s candidacy from being taken into consideration – the Muslim religion, and the level of development – have now been replaced by the Copenhagen criteria pertaining to human rights, respect for minorities, and the market economy. It is now the responsibility of the Turkish Government, and it alone, to instigate an evolution that would allow Turkey to meet these clearly political requirements, whose observance would imply, needless to say, a transfer of powers in Ankara from the military to the civilians, and a respect for the rights of minorities, be they Islamic or Kurdish. At this critical juncture for the neo- Kemalist power, the Turkish diaspora in Europe is called to play a part which could turn out to be decisive.

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