The Turkish Perspective

45 mins

10:00:02

Across Turkey there are irritated mutterings. Turks feel and look more and more a part of Europe but increasingly they believe the Europeans don’t see it that way.

10:00:22
Melik Sah

“The Europeans are full of prejudices.”

10:00:28
Bahadir

“The Turks in Europe have ruined our image. A Turkish girl from Germany was asked on a TV-show, what’s the capital of Turkey? She replied, “Adana”. That’s in the middle of Anatolia.”

10:00:44
Europe’s borders are being blurred. The debate about what is and isn’t and what should and shouldn’t be Europe, intensifies at the mere mention of Turkey.

Most Turks are Muslim, but government, education and bureaucracy are officially secular. The country has a strong military, which guarantees stability, but which also obscures true democracy. The economy is growing, but still has to reach European standards. Turkey is also close to the hotbeds of Iraq, Chechnya and the Middle East.

For hundreds of years, the Bosphorus has divided Europe from Asia. Would EU membership help bridge the gap?

10:01:29

Insert title:

“The Turkish Perspective”

10:01:37

A Film by
Sabine Küper and Thomas Büsch

10:01:47
Satirical magazine ‘Leman’ is the most popular ‘paper amongst young Turks.

There is a strange mix of optimism and frustration here about the controversy surrounding Turkey’s EU membership.

10:02:01
Tuncay Akgün

“Europe itself is responsible for the warped image of Turkey. We are seen as the outsider, the stranger. That’s a deep part of the European collective conscience. Every time something is seen as different or distant - physically, geographically or ethnically - the West makes clear judgements. ”

10:02:23
Mehmet Özkan

“Because of the EU there are changes in Turkey regarding human rights for example. That’s a good development. I like that. ”

10:02:36
Asli Yazicioglu

“If we join the European Union, will anything change? I am not against change, but I don’t believe that the European Union will have that big an influence.”

10:02:49
Mehmet Cagcag

“For me the idea of the European Union is a very attractive vision of a modern future. The idea of a community of states is very fascinating for me. In the past such communities where only created through war, conflicts and competition.”

10:03:13

The European Union is itself bitterly divided over the pros and cons of Turkish membership.

The Greens are strong supporters of Turkey joining Europe. The parliamentary group makes a point of meeting in Istanbul instead of Brussels.

10:03:36
Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister

“If people say that it doesn’t matter how much Turkey is trying to change, that it can be a strong partner but will never be a member of the European Union, they are definitely saying ‘No’ to Turkey. And the people who continue to deny Turkey’s candidacy, seriously have to see the consequences of such a decision for Europe.”

10:04:07
Daniel Cohn-Bendit,
The Greens, European Parliament

“If we are able to trigger Turkey into becoming a Mecca for democracy and secularized religion, then that would be a big step forward in the fight against terrorism. In this case we would have proved that the clash of cultures between the Muslim world and western societies can be overcome. For me that is one of the most important functions of the European Union: to overcome borders and to create an integration of different ideas in an democratic form.”

10:04:52
Francois Bayrou

“We have to ask one basic question: does the European Union want to be a single entity for a united poulation? Then it has to be united culturally. But if the European Union prefers to be a ‘club’, of debating politicians from different states, having diplomatic discussions, then you can integrate Turkey, the Maghreb, Jordan, Lebanon, the whole Mediterranean. But then we’d have a totally different structure from today.”

10:05:27
Hans-Gert Pöttering
EVP-ED, European Parliament

“The most important factor is culture. Relkigion is a part of culture, but it is also formed by many other things. Take for example the Enlightenment, that didn’t happen in Turkey. Also the identity of minorities is part of a culture. Turkey doesn’t have a clear view of its own history. At the end of the First World War hundreds of thousands, maybe a million, Armenians were killed. This is still a taboo subject in Turkey.”

10:06:06

The few Armenians still living in Turkey are reluctant to be dragged into the debate. As with Turkey’s other minorities, they believe the European Union is the best chance they have of forcing Turkey to face its past more honestly.


10:06:26
Luiz Bakar, speaker of the Armenian Patriarchy

“Our community doesn’t ignore the cruel events against our people in the Ottoman Empire. But whether it was genocide or not… this question should be answered by the historians.”

“If Turkey is excluded for cultural reasons, then that’s discrimination. Turkey’s membership would show that all this talk about ‘clashes of culture’ is artificial. This discussion gained too much importance after September eleventh. An integration of Turkey would show that the European Union makes decisions based on objective criteria, like political modernization, and not on cultural factors.”

10:07:22

It’s a pragmatic view – Turkey needs to reflect on history, and Europe is the best environment for introspection. In theory at least, everyone’s a winner.

10:07:37

The Ottoman Empire’s military orchestra is these days no more than a tourist attraction. Historically these musicians were an integral part of the army, marching on the frontlines of the Ottomans’ many military campaigns.

They marched when Constantinople fell in 1453, the first major confrontation between the Christian West and the Turks. Today, it’s all little more than folklore, but fear of the Turks incursions, as far into Europe as Vienna, is still very real for many Europeans.


10:08:28
Jean-François Perouse
French Institute For Anatolian Studies

“The prospect of Turkish EU membership has influenced discussion about European Identity in the most amazing way. When we look at history, we see that since the fall of Constantinople, the Turkish threat has influenced the shaping of European identity. Europe was mobilizing itself at that time against the Turkish enemy. The common identity, of a Christian Europe, rose in importance because of the threat of another civilisation. In the 16th century, the outsider, the stranger, was without any doubt ‘the Turk’ and they ebcame the focus of fear. These days we don’t have the same historical context, but the past isn’t forgotten in the psychology and in the collective subconscious of many Europeans.”

10:09:34
Today Istanbul is a modern city heavily influenced by western ways.

A key aspect to the debate on Turkey and the EU is the role of religion and women. Whilst the wearing of headscarves is still the subject of intense argument in some European countries, the wearing of hijab in schools and public offices in Turkey has been illegal for several years now.


10:10:07
But the issue is sensitive in Turkey, too - the governing party, the AKP, are arguing a complete ban is undemocratic and an obstacle to religious liberty. They aim to liberlaise dress code more along European lines – effectively anything goes. But the headscarf is not the AKP’s top agenda anymore.

10:10:39
Mutlu Alkan
Spokeswoman of the AKP women comission-Istanbul

“The extreme economic disparity has to be solved. The only way the Turkish people, and especially women, will only be able to make their own decisions is when they are able to support themselves. This is the key to personal freedom. That is very much more important to me at the moment than the issue of headscarves. We have a lack of access to education for women, a huge unemployment problem. These are the questions that should occupy us first.”

10:11:16

The status of women in Turkey depends heavily on their social circumstances. In Istanbul’s poor shantytowns honour killings are still common.

10:11:35
In February 2004 Güldünya Tören was killed. The twentyone year old had escaped from the Kurdish Southeast to Istanbul. Here, she was brutally raped and gave birth to an illegitimate child.

10:11:49
Shamed by having such a child in the family, her two brothers tracked her down and murdered her.

10:12:01
This terrible event caused an outcry across the country. Calls were quickly made for the Government to take action.

10:12:08
There are only eight women’s shelters like this in the whole of Turkey. That’s for a nation of 70 million.

But change is underway. Before Guldunya’s murder, fratricide carried a shorter sentence to murder which were committed outside the family.

10:12:30
Lale Akgün
SPD, German Bundestag

“Honour Killings are not very common any more, thank God. But any such case needs to be condemned in the strongest terms and strictly punished. Turkey made a big step in the direction of modernization by now treating these murderers with the highest punishment possible in the new penal code. These cases are not connected to honour or excused by family honour any more, but are looked at like any other murder case”

10:13:03
It now only remains to put the laws into practice. For Istanbul’s modern urbanites honour killings are archaic remains of the past.

10:13:19
Asli, is one of Leman’s cartoonists, on her way home. She lives with her boyfriend without even considering marriage. These days one in two university educated women gets divorced at least once.

10:13:35
Asli’s social views are clear in her cartoons.

10:13:40
Asli Yazicioglu

“I am drawing a kind of fantastic character, a Barbarian woman, like a female Conan the Barbarian. But in a satirical way of course. She is independent and has superpowers. I make up stories for her, that take place in a fantasy world. A lot of readers, espcially the younger ones, prefer to see something separate from their real life. But I like her, I will continue with this character. Sometimes I’m told I should draw more subjects from daily life, more Turkish things, that would attract more readers. But I don’t think so”

10:14:28
The conservative Turkish government has pushed through some huge legal reforms over the past two years. The politicians are aware that the support of the urban youth is key in any movement towards Europe.

10:14:46
Nilüfer Narli
Kadir-Has- Universität Istanbul

“The government has understood that it won’t remain in power if it doesn’t convince the middle class and the modern, liberal, urbanites. The AKP itself developed out of a fundamentalist party and decided it doesn’t want Turkey to be separated from the modern world. Today we have a kind of marriage of convenience between the middle and upper class and the AKP.”

10:15:23

But Turkey’s new democractic direction isn’t to everyone’s taste. On the morning of the jewish Sabbath, 15th November 2003, two bombs exploded in front of the Synagoge Neve Shalom, killing 24.

10:15:26
(fade in: 15.11.2003)

10:15:40
Isak Haleva
Chief Rabbi of Turkey

“All religions condemn murder. In the Tora it is written: You shall not kill’., Youll find the same in the qu’ran. Christianity also forbids killing. How can it be possible that someone comes and kills others in the name of religion, while they are praying in their house of god? Which religion could support this? These terrorists take the strongest mobilizing force of human beings and religion, and hide behind it. Their actions have in fact nothing to do with religion. No religion gives the order to murder. This was a big attack against us, but not only against us, against the whole country; Turkey was hit. Time will let us forget, but there has to be more peace in the world.”

10:16:52
Critics of Turkey’s EU membership often subliminally fear letting Turkey in means letting the terrorists in.

10:17:06
Jean-François Perouse

“I think the danger of religious extremism is grossly exaggerated regarding Turkey. In the past it was different. In the 70s and 80s there was without any doubt a potential for violence and attacks. Even at the start of the 90s we could see small, violent groups in Ankara using religious arguments for their actions: the Islamic Front, the Islamic Movement etc. But today the situation has changed completely. We should only understand the dynamic of violent movements, getting mobilized by Islam, as individuals, connected to international terrorism.”

10:17:57
Protests are a regular sight in Turkey. Some fear such a climate of mobilisation is just a short step from a climate which supports terror.

10:18:04
The chant at the Fatih Mosque’s friday prayers is one of ‘Islam will defeat Imperialism”. It’s a regular protest against the US and British occupation of Iraq.

10:18:29
The Iraq War is a hot topic here, as it is everywhere. At a nearby Sunday-school, children sing a song about the suffering of children in Iraq.

10:18:42
The song says “We may not play on the street, our wounds won’t heal.”

10:18:50

War is a central part of the children’s psyche here. But far from generalising about the moral degeneracy of the West, as in previous generations, songs like these are sad, but not condemning.

10:19:19
Girl
They have to accept us as Muslims. We are Muslims and don’t want to be suppressed religiously. We want freedom.”

10:19:28
Melek Özkan
Union for liberty, Özgür-Der

“Of course we are protesting against the war in Iraq, but we are supporting the EU. We are criticising Great Britain, we are critizising the US and Israel, but that doesn’t have anything to do with the individuals.”

10:19:46
The activists hope accession to the EU will mean more freedom and a more secure future.

10:19:54
Nilüfer Narli
Kadir-Has-Universität


“Today 75% of the population wants to join the EU. Why have these people changed their minds? The Islamists have moved from the extreme periphery to the center, politically and materially. They have got more integrated and made their peace with fundamental democratic values. They see the European Union as the best model for welfare and democracy. Very different groups in Turkey started supporting the EU-membership.”

10:20:36
National Youth Day is an annual bonanza, shown on television across the country.

10:20:45
Even in the 30s Turkish girls were doing gymnastics to represent the modern republic.

10:20:53
Founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, saw the future of the country in the West. Women were no longer supposed to wear the veil, but instead were expected to be an integral part of building the nation.

10:21:04
The Islamists were shocked: from the glory of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey had turned into a weak National state with dancing girls.

10:21:14
But Atatürk prevailed, installing the new capital of the Republic in Ankara, a small town in the middle of Anatolia.

10:21:28
Ataturk was buried here, in his own Mausoleum in Ankara. The grave, ceremonially guarded at all times, is visited by every Turk at least once during their lifetime.

10:21:38
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s state doctrine, known as Kemalism, simply laid down that Turkey was to follow a step by step march towards the twin pillars of democracy and modernity.

10:21:47
The military’s role as protector of Kemalism is laid down in law. But today, the all powerful army, with it’s authoritarian influence on society, is more an obstacle on Turkey’s way to the European Union.

10:22:00
The miltiary’s armoured division represent the kemalist mission like no other unit.

10:22:25
Ataturk’s policies pervade everything here – these cadets are made to watch a film about Turkey’s founding father. They’ve surely seen it many times before.

10:22:38
It is the army’s role to defend against extremist Islam, to act against enemies from inside and outside.

10:22:48
Generalmajor a.D. Armagan Kuloglu
Center for Strategical Eurasian Studies, ASAM

“Security is a central subject for us, that’s why the Armed Forces very often have had a central role in the Republic. In Turkey we have 99 Percent Muslim citizens. In no Muslim country can you install democracy without separating politics from religion. In our country the military guarantees democracy. When the separation of politics from religion is endangered the military has to act. That doesn’t endanger but preserves our democracy.”

10:23:24, fade in text:
“How lucky is he, who can call himself a Turk. We are ready to give our lives for our Nation.”

10:23:27
It is a long held view here that the military knows what is best for the country.

10:23:36
For years Turkey’s Generals have dominated politics here. But it’s an arrangement which will be a major stumbling block for entry to the EU.


10:23:45
Heinz Kramer
Foundation for Science and Politics
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik

“The idea of the Military as protector of the kemalist Revolution and its principles hasn’t completely dissapeared just yet. It is an important part of the whole military ethos. But I think that the military is seriously contemplating its mission in two important ways. On one hand, they are thinking about how best to shape the Kemalist Republic in the 21st century or how the republic has to modernize to fit European standards. On the other hand, they are hoping that their role as the protector of democracy will become unnecesary when Turkey becomes a member of the European Union.”

12:24:37
The Turkish military is starting to undergo an internal process to transfer its powers and reform its duties.

10:24.47
The military will, however, still form a key part in Turkey’s march on Europe. Special units, like these from the Jandarma, will be called on to help in any violent protests.

10:25:14
At this demonstration, with soldiers pretending to be protesters, the security forces are acting with restraint, offering a model example of dealing with the hostile crowd.

10:25:12
But in reality Turkey’s armed forces have a less than glowing reputation. At this demonstration in 2004, the police show a much less restrained response.

10:25:22
According to Human Rights Groups, poilice brutality is currently as widespread as ever.


10:25.39
Elisabeth Brunner works for an organization promoting better working conditions. In April she was forced into a car.


10:25:54
Elisabeth Brunner
Confederation of workers in Europe

“What happened to me on the 8th of April was something I had never experienced before. I was kidnapped from the stree and threatened with a gun to my head. They blindfolded me with a bandage. They harassed me sexually in the car and they stubbed out ten cigarettes on my arm. They were accusing me of things I’d done that were absolutely untrue and ridiculous. Actually I wanted to laugh, allthough the situation was so frightening.”

10:26:26
Elisabeth was accused of inciting workers and of being a terrorist.


10:26:36
Hans-Gert Pöttering

“In my opinion - the statement, ‘systematic torture in Turkey doesnt exist any more’ is the most absurd statement of 2004. When you claim there is no systematic torture, you admit the existence of torture in general. Instead of insisting on the immediate abolition of torture-practises in Turkey, you play down this problem with the statement ‘there is no systematic torture any more’.”


10:27:05

Daniel Cohn-Bendit

“There is a member of the European Union called Italy. Just remember the report on Genoa. What happened in Genoa? They assaulted a school. Demonstrators were consciously misstreated, threatened and tortured, physically and psychologically. That has to be punished. There are such cases in Turkey and there are probably worse cases in the Southeast of Turkey. The vital question is, does Turkey make efforts to solve these human rights abuses or not? I think Turkey does, and with fundamental changes in the law they’ve already taken the first steps in this direction.”

10:28:13
The Kurdish-dominated regions in the Southeast have for years been the center of attention regarding human rights abuses. Martial law was only lifted in late 2002. For fifteen years before then, the Turkish military had been battling the Kurdish guerrillas, the PKK. It was a war that cost more than 20,000 lives.

10:28:29
Tuzla stands as a chilling reminder of the worst excesses of the war. Prior to hostilities beginning in the late 1980s, farmers here had been wealthy. But it became one of the more than 3000 villages razed to the ground in the battle.

10:28:49
Tahsin Yildiz
Mayor of Tuzla

“On 11th of July 1995 the state burnt down our village. That day the village was completely emptied. Men and women had to line up in separate lines in front of the Mosque. Men, women, old people, small children, everybody had to watch. First they were pouring a chemical fluid everywhere, then they set the houses on fire and told us: “Condolences for your loss.” Then they left. There was nothing left of our village.”

10:29:34
Once there were roads and waterpipes here. Now all the infrastructure is destroyed.

10:29:49
Tahsin Yildiz

“First we tried to stay, but they wouldn’t let us. Most of the villagers went to Diyarbakir. Since 2001 we have been writing applications to the governor. Some have got permission to return. Seven households are back now. Some live in the old primary school, others in tents and huts.”

10:30:03
“Since 2002 the state has become more generous regarding the re-migration and some people have returned. But most are still in Diyarbakir.”

10:30:14
The number of inhabitats in the capital of the South East Diyarbakir has quadrupled in the last fifteen years, swelling to more than 2,5 Million people today. Shantytowns have sprung up all around one of Turkey’s oldest cities.

10:30:49
Most migrants would like to return to their villages, but have nothing to return to. Their houses and fields were almoist universally burnt or destroyed.

10:30:49
Osman Baydemir is Diyabakir’s mayor. His pro-Kurdish Party isn’t represented in the Turkish parliament, but it governs 70% of the muncipialities in Turkish Kurdistan.

10:31:02

The mayor was head of the local Human Rights Foundation during the long years of martial law. He believes Turkey’s membership to the EU means more to the Kurds than to anyone else.

10:31:17
Osman Baydemir

“Since 1999 we have seen fundamental improvements regarding Human Rights, due to Turkey’s attempts to join the EU. Of course there is still a way to go concerning the implementation of reforms, but I am very sure, that these would disappear if the European Union starts negotiations with Turkey soon, and gives a concrete date for possible membership. The European Union would be a blessing for Kurds, for Turks, and everybody would benefit from democratisation”

10:31:59
The Kurds are already seeing some of these benefits. Until recently Turkish was the only official language – Kurdish has to be spoken in private.

But now there’s a Kurdish programme broadcast twice weekly on state television.

Today they’re comparing Italian and Kurdish cooking.

In the tea-house the local men believe it does little to address the problems of the region.

10:32:33
Kurd
“This programme is absolute nonsense, nobody is watching it. We prefer Diyarbakir’s local channels.”

10:32:48
The highest rated show here is local channel Gün TV’s evening news - even though the bulletins still have to be read in Turkish. Last September the channel was shut down for a month after some spokesmen spoke in Kurdish on a live broadcast – forbidden without prior permission from the Radio and television board.

10:33:17
Serkan Yatci
Chief editor, Gün TV

“I can’t say that we are able to broadcast freely, even when we use Turkish as the language for the news. The Kurdish programme on the state-channel is only allowed to appease the EU. If there is a principle of equality in a country, no language should be discriminated. We should be free to broadcast in Kurdish as it’s mainly Kurds living in this city.

10:33:43
There is still a gulf between the reforms and reality, but the existence of a thriving local media is a sign of progress.

10:33:50
Kurdish is accepted officially as a language, though it is not yet taught at school.

10:34:08
Such a move would be hugely popular here in Kurdistan, but the government is reluctant to allow too much kurdish nationalism to take seed.

Fade in Text:
10:34:16
“I am Turkish, I am honest, I am hard-working.”

10:34:24
To grow means to progress for my country, Atatürk ist the Greatest leader.”

10:34:27
Ataturks’s main ideal was to awaken a feeling of republican citizenship. That was 80 years ago – The Kurds still feel far from part of the country.

10:34:40
Solving the issues affecting the South East would open numerous doors for Turkey. The conflict between Turks and Kurds is the focus of the majority of the EU’s objections.

10:34:52
The conflict is even visible in Istanbul. On the hills that roll down to the Bosphorus, shantytowns have sprung up to match those in Diyarbakir. Poor migrants – mostly from Kurdistan - live and work here in terrible conditions.

10:35:11
This sweat-shop is called “New Life”. A warning posted to the door says it all: ‘workers taking one day off without medical reason are punished with a deduction of two days salary’.

10:35:25
The sweat shop entrepreneurs make their money off the backs of the terrble wages paid to these workers. Wages In Istanbul average out at about 15 euros for a gruelling 10 hour day. In the agricultural sector, affecting almost a third of all Turks, wages drop to a third of this.

10:35:41
Most workers are unable to provide any kind of decent living for their families. Ultimately, many households are split, with families sent back to Anatolia to develop smallholdings.

10:36:41
But across the river, in western Istanbul, the economy is booming. The growth rate here is 10%, far in excess of most European countries. Inflation has been hauled back from 70% two years ago to a much more modest 16% today.

10:36:57
Beer-producer ‘Efes Pilsen’ is a prime example of succesful Turkish enterprise. From humble roots in a small brewery in central Anatolia, today Efes controls 14 breweries in Turkey, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In 2003 exports rose by about 67%, Turnover was $700m.

10:37:19
Ertan Yildirim

“We are exporting worldwide. Especially to Germany, England, France, Belgium, the Balkans, the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and others on the worldmarket.”

10:37:40
Efes has a dream of a beer empire spreading from the Adriatic to China. Its beer is brewed with German technology, but produced with cheap Turkish labour.

10:37:56
Greece is a surprise supporter of Turkey’s application to the EU. Athens hopes that problems like the Cyprus conflict can be solved on a European plattform.

10:38:08
The greek border police plans to clear the minefields that have separated the two countries since the Cyprus crisis erupted in 1967.

10:38:20
Konstantinos Hatsidakis

(English)
“We have to learn to find solutions.

It takes two to Tango


10:39:06
Francois Bayrou

“Turkey has a very important role geopolitically as a bridge between two worlds. And a bridge can’t be only on one side or the other, it has to be in the middle. The cultural identity of Turkey is to be a bridge.

10:39:34
Within NATO, Turkey has fulfilled this role as ‘bridge’ for a long time. Turkey acted as an important bufferzone between Europe and the Soviet Union. Vital strategically, the Turks were armed by the USA, and became the second largest army in the Alliance.

10:39:53
Turkey’s strategic importance is another key consideration in its applicationfor EU membership.

10:40:02
Jean-François Perouse
French Institute For Anatolian Studies

“To become a geopolitical power, Europe needs Turkey. The country is important due to its size, its population and the strength of its military. To be able to compete in world politics alongside the USA and China, Europe needs Turkey as a trump-card. From this point of view the Integration of Turkey into the European Union would be very positive.”

10:40:43
During the Iraq crisis Turkey abandoned its usual US-oriented foreign policy and stayed neutral, like most European countries did. The Turkish government sees membership of the EU as helping it become THE model of democracy for the Middle East.

10:40:56

Abdullah Gül
Turkish Foreign Minister

“If a Muslim country is able to install European Values, to grow a free economy, to make its government policy transparent, to arrange the relations between civil organisations and the military, and to install the equality of women and men according to European criteria, than that would be of huge importance for the Muslim world.

10:41:36

The propsect of membership to the European Union has lent wings to the reforms shaping modern Turkey. If the country is able to fulfill the ambitious goals of its politicians than that wouldn’t be only an important model for the Muslim world, it could also give Europe a very different shape from today. The first steps are taken.
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