Davutoğlu’s response to Merkel and Sarkozy

The reason is obvious: To grant Turkey a privileged partnership instead of full membership will be in the interest of Europe and Turkey. For, Europe is not yet out of the crisis, and it won’t be able to assimilate a big country like Turkey. Turkey in itself is also in a difficult situation. It can’t complete its reforms.

Merkel does not want negotiations to cease. Berlin’s Pacta Sunt Servanda approach persists. It aims to prolong the accession period for as long as possible and creates suspicion regarding the target. Whereas Sarkozy acts based on grounds of internal politics. He conducts politics.

This new development was explained first in Ankara during a dinner given by Foreign Minister Davutoğlu for ambassadors of EU countries and then yesterday in Stockholm during his meeting with Swedish Foreign Minister Karl Bildt and Olli Rehn, EU enlargement commissioner.

Davutoğlu, during these contacts, has put forward his personal position regarding the EU in such a way that he left no doubts in the minds of others. "Turkey’s strategic priority is Europe," he said. "Our sole target is full membership. Any other formula is not subject to acceptance," he responded to Sarkozy and Merkel.

I had mentioned in my former articles doubts regarding Davutoğlu’s view on the EU and whether he put his priority on the Middle East. An EU authority who closely followed the meeting in Ankara between EU ambassadors and Davutoğlu told me that some questions in the mind of the ambassadors have now vanished, saying: "He spoke very openly and put all priority on EU negotiations. There is not a question left in anybody’s mind."

He also took the Foreign Ministry’s pulse.

As you know the Foreign Ministry is very picky when it comes to the EU issue. According to signals I receive, Davutoğlu’s EU approach especially creates satisfaction. I think, regarding Davutoğlu, we should stop telling fortunes but roll up our sleeves because if our strategic priority is the EU, the opportunity for accelerating reforms came a long time ago.

Bayar important for DP
The Democratic Party, or DP, is maybe going to congress to live or die. Either it rears up and selects a leader who takes back the party’s position in politics or it vanishes in the dark for good.

The DP is a very interesting party. It lived through a very unfortunate reunion process in 2007, upset its people and was abused in a boorish way. But during recent local elections we noticed that the DP did not vanish completely.

Chairman Süleyman Soylu was not able to become popular. He even could not obtain as much media support as the Saadet (Felicity) Party. The DP received less than a quarter of the support that went to Saadet, which received much attention in hopes of deteriorating the AKP. The election results surprised many. While Saadet received 5 percent despite all the support, the DP received 4 percent of votes. This means the core of the DP was still there.

The Turkish public is in a search these days. It is searching for a central party that is not democrat or fanatic but pious, secular but not secularist. The DP with a majority conforms to this. This means, it is understood that this party will have a future. And when its attractiveness increased, the leadership contest accelerated all of a sudden. In this contest among leaders, M. Ali Bayar is the most interesting and bright one.

Süleyman Soylu has proven himself in his straightforward style. Young and dynamic but he was unable to make the big jump for his party during his chairman period. He surely has his reasons. But in the end the public blames the leader. Hüsamettin Cindoruk is very experienced and respected and knows Turkey’s recent history best. But it is a fact that the public likes to test younger generations.

Bayar’s world perception and experience provides him an important advantage in this contest but no matter what, the way things go is more based on delegate calculations than on personal skills.

Whoever might be elected, the DP congress in Turkey for a party on the verge of bankruptcy is important for the revival of democracy. The DP needs to regain strength and take its place on the political spectrum. A DP in the central scene will contribute much to Turkish democracy.