Spain’s EU presidency an opportunity for Turkey

Relations between Spain and Turkey have flourished in the past decade; nevertheless, as Spain is currently chairing the EU’s term presidency, it is of the utmost importance for Turkey to work closely with Spain to open as many EU negotiation chapters as possible.

Turkey and Spain are the most similar countries in Europe in terms of political development, economic situation and EU membership bids. The advent of democracy in Spain occurred late, just as in Turkey, and it was also difficult for it to join the EU. Spain is a largely agricultural country with vast production of subtropical products similar to Turkey and is the biggest rival to Turkey in terms of tourism from North America. However, Spain is a staunch supporter of Turkey’s EU membership and plans to open at least four chapters during its six-month presidency.

“Turkey’s European Union membership bid has always been supported by Spain, and Spain will continue to support Turkey,” Spanish Prime Minister Jose Louis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Monday in Madrid during a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“Spain will try to open four new chapters in Turkey’s membership negotiations,” he said. According to Zapatero, the energy chapter, which is currently blocked by Greek Cyprus, is one of those that Spain will attempt to open.

Speaking to Sunday’s Zaman, Boston University-based expert Deniz Bulut Ture said under the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, Turkish-Spanish relations had gained remarkable momentum. “As the two Mediterranean countries at the periphery of Europe, the two countries finally realized their potential in political and economic cooperation,” Ture said. “Bilateral relations between Spain and Turkey have been upgraded to the highest level possible since last year,” Eduard Soler i Lecha, research fellow at the Barcelona Center for International Affairs, told Sunday’s Zaman.

Speaking about the importance of last week’s visit, Soler i Lecha said Spain only has such high-level governmental summits with its neighbors and with “so-called” big EU countries. Thus, Soler i Lecha noted, as Spain believes that Turkey should become a full member of the EU in the future, it is logical to start this cooperation as soon as possible.

“These kinds of meetings are opportunities to discuss and foster bilateral cooperation projects but also share impressions on European and foreign policy issues,” the Spanish expert said. Also speaking about the significance of the meeting, Ture said this comprehensive meeting with a large group of ministers is a sign of the determination to push cooperation to the next level and utilize these strong ties in Turkey’s accession talks with Europe.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was expected to attend the working dinner with foreign ministers of other candidate countries on March 6 in Cordoba, Spain, where the EU foreign ministers convene in an informal half-yearly meeting.

Traditionally called a Gymnich meeting since the first meeting was held during the German presidency in 1974 at Gymnich Castle, Davutoğlu was expected to discuss issues related to regional and international affairs and the Western Balkans in particular. On his two-day visit, Davutoğlu will also meet with his counterparts from the EU and high officials from the European Council and the European Commission on the sidelines of the Gymnich meeting.

The first such meeting to be held under the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU foreign ministers meet informally once every six months in the country holding the presidency. In an interview published on the Spanish EU presidency Web site, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said, “Along with the candidate countries, we will tackle the Western Balkans -- a matter of interest to Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey -- and prepare the high-level meeting which the Spanish presidency would like to hold at the end of its six-month tenure.”

Along with political cooperation, Spain and Turkey also have a growing amount of trade and economic activity between the two countries. Stressing Turkey’s role in the Middle East, cultural, political and economic relations were among the issues discussed during bilateral talks in Madrid, Zapatero said. Spanish companies in Turkey have grown and there are strong relations between Turkish and Spanish companies, Zapatero stated at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart. He added that Spanish companies are especially interested in infrastructure investments in Turkey. There are nearly 350 Spanish businessmen operating in Turkey, and roughly 70 Turkish businessmen investing in Spain. “Turkey is Spain’s third most important trade partner outside the EU after the US and Mexico,” Ture stressed. Emphasizing Spain’s huge leap forward in past the five decades, Nurettin Bilici from Hacettepe University, who is also the author of a book related to Turkish-EU relations, comparing it to Spain, said to Sunday’s Zaman that Spain was similar to Turkey in terms of economic and social problems in 1960. Bilici stated that while income per capita in Spain was $267 in 1955, it was $286 in Turkey in 1955. “Today, Spain is the ninth largest economy in the world with over 800 billion euros in [gross domestic product] GDP,” Bilici said.

Speaking about the painful road of Spain’s drive toward EU membership, Bilici said Spain was a poor country and that there was a great fear that the poor masses would move to northern Europe. “Spain has conducted long-range policies with patience; sometimes it stepped back,” Bilici said. He also stressed that the “forcing influence” of the EU for reform in candidate countries is one of the most important benefits of membership negotiations.

Speaking about the Alliance of Civilizations, which both countries co-chair, Soler i Lecha said in recent years Spain and Turkey have been building a strong alliance and that these summits are good opportunities to substantiate this alliance. He continued, saying the high degree of consensus among Spain’s political class to support Turkey’s EU membership is noteworthy.

http://www.sundayszaman.com/sunday/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=203585