Sunday, November 28, 2004

Younger Turks favor joining EU as way to better nation

"Nearly a century after a cabal of young Turks engineered the downfall of the Ottoman Empire, a new generation of young Turks is embracing the start of another kind of revolution."

" In their enthusiasm, Turks under 30 seem undaunted by the remaining EU membership hurdles. Instead, many say they understand that their country must make further progress in areas such as education and must solidify human-rights and political reforms before it can join Europe's club."

" Havva Yakup's dreams are more concrete and definitely closer to home. She wants to see more religious freedom in this predominantly Muslim country, including a change in the Turkish law that prohibits wearing head scarves in universities and government buildings.

"I hope Turkey becomes a member because if it does, it will make it possible for me to continue my education regardless of whether or not I wear a head scarf," said Yakup, who is 15 and attends a religious high school."

To read more, just click the coments button below.
Chicago Tribune | Younger Turks favor joining EU as way to better nation

1 comment:

IMFletch said...

Although many Europeans have doubts about admitting Turkey to the European Union, the prospect of Turkey's joining has been greeted eagerly across this country--and particularly among its vast young population.

In their enthusiasm, Turks under 30 seem undaunted by the remaining EU membership hurdles. Instead, many say they understand that their country must make further progress in areas such as education and must solidify human-rights and political reforms before it can join Europe's club.

"I support Turkey's membership in the EU, although I don't think we are ready for it yet," said Arif Budak, 25, a student who works full time as a trainer at an upscale health club in Istanbul. "If we join too soon, it won't be good for the EU, but it will be bad for Turkey also."

EU leaders are to meet Dec. 17 to decide whether to give the green light to starting membership talks with Turkey. They are expected to say yes, but the expectation is equally strong that the talks will last a decade or longer.

Assuming the talks are approved, one of the biggest tasks confronting Turkey will be improving its education system to meet European standards.

The low education level of large numbers of young people is the single greatest concern to Europeans, Daniel Gros, director of the Center for European Policy Studies, said at a recent Istanbul conference co-sponsored by the Economics and Foreign Policy Forum of Istanbul.

"It is up to a candidate country to say, `Do we want more roads and airports, or do we want more schools?'" Gros said. "This country needs more schools and better schools and in all parts of the country."

To many of the country's young people, who stand to reap the long-term benefits of EU membership, getting a date to start talks would mark the end of one journey and the start of another.

"The process itself has been important," Ayca Bayraktaroglu, 23, said during a break from her studies at Bosporus University in Istanbul. "Without the EU as a target, I doubt that Turkey would have been able to achieve as many reforms in recent years."

The expectations of the country's young people cross social and educational boundaries. From unemployed young men to students at Bosporus, an elite school, these Turks see the EU as anchoring Turkey in a stable part of the world and insulating it from the political winds that have swept across its region.

Turkey's population is young. Almost 30 percent of its nearly 70 million people are younger than 15, and three-quarters are under 40.

They could offer an important labor source for the economies of an aging Europe.

And the United Nations predicts Turkey's population will reach 91 million by 2030, which would make it by far Europe's most populous country.

But the young Turks don't see immigrating to Germany, France or Britain as a certainty--or even as the biggest potential benefit of EU membership.

Muhammed Yilmaz, 21, a clerk at a McDonald's restaurant, sees a chance for economic stability and an opportunity to move out of his menial job. "Whether or not Turks go to Europe, membership will bring economic stability to Turkey."

Muhammed Yilmaz, 21, a clerk at a McDonald's restaurant, sees a chance for economic stability and an opportunity to move out of his menial job.

"Whether or not Turks go to Europe, membership will bring economic stability to Turkey," he said.

Ece Uskuplu, 22, an international trade student at Bosporous University, doesn't think Europeans need to worry about a Turkish invasion.

"I don't think that there will be a flood of Turkish immigrants to Europe," she said. "Turks may have a tendency to act on the vague hope that life will be better elsewhere, but I think in the long run they will return home."

She illustrated her point with the Turkish version of the "grass is always greener," saying, "Your neighbor's chicken is always a goose."

Havva Yakup's dreams are more concrete and definitely closer to home. She wants to see more religious freedom in this predominantly Muslim country, including a change in the Turkish law that prohibits wearing head scarves in universities and government buildings.

"I hope Turkey becomes a member because if it does, it will make it possible for me to continue my education regardless of whether or not I wear a head scarf," said Yakup, who is 15 and attends a religious high school.

Today's young Turks would be the first generation to feel the full effect of membership in the EU. Their numbers are large and the test for them, and the country, will be to convince Europe that what some might think is a demographic weakness is potentially a strength.

"The Turkish challenge is how to turn this into a demographic advantage--a gift--rather than a threat to our European neighbors," said Ustun Erguder, a political science professor and director of the Istanbul Policy Center at Sabanci University in Istanbul.

The key to the transformation, said Erguder and others, is getting the Turkish education system into shape before a courtship with Europe would end, in 10 or 15 years.

There are signs that the government recognizes the importance of improving an education system that often has 40 or 50 students in a single classroom and suffers from enormous disparities from region to region.

This fiscal year, for the first time in decades, Turkey will spend more for education than for its military.

"Education expenditures are increasing and military expenditures are decreasing," said Hakan Altinay, executive director of the Open Society Institute in Turkey. "Turkey is beginning to take on the aura of normalcy. Maybe we can stop talking about torture and freedom of expression and start talking how to upgrade our public education system."

Budak, the trainer, agreed that education is the key to open Europe's door for Turks. But he also said the country needs the next decade to make improvements, so they blend in and don't stand out as foreigners.

"I have a Turkish friend who lives in Germany," he said. "In Germany, they call her a Turk. In Turkey, they call her a German. If we join the EU too soon, we will always be foreigners."