The forthcoming EU-Turkey refugee summit reminds us of the pre-eminent importance of this country in the European Union’s history and future.
First of all, it is clear that this Summit is crucial: if an agreement cannot be reached with Ankara, millions of refugees, held today in Turkish camps, will arrive on the Greece islands, in order to take the long road and make it to Germany, France, and Sweden.
And the Turks, who are now demanding major concessions from the EU, have an easy time saying that they host and finance, in proportion to their population, 10 times more refugees than all of Europe.
It is therefore in our interest that they continue to do so. No concession will be too high a price to pay.
Turkey is also essential, for us, through its involvement in the conflict in Syria and Iraq.
An ambiguous role: close to the Americans, but also, by a strange domino effect, objective support of Daesh because the Turks are giving the fight against the Kurds priority over any other battle, and every enemy of the Kurds is regarded with a certain benevolence.
An essential role also: for it is through Turkish territory that travels a significant share of trafficking responsible for the supply and funding of weapons to IS forces.
A dangerous role finally: for Turkey’s hostility, now directed towards Russia (knowing that a Russian pilot was killed after Turkey shot down his jet) and more implicit towards Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and the Turkish alliance with Qatar that seriously hinders the conduct of military operations in Syria and stands in the way of finding any diplomatic solution.
From the midst of this confusion, it is easy for Turkey to argue that their main enemies are those who call into question their country’s territorial integrity, that is to say, as they claim, the Kurds. And that no one can impose decisions on Turkey.
A lot of very distant historical precedents for such a dangerous situation could be found: Turkey has already greatly influenced the course of our history. From the Siege of Constantinople to that of Sevastopol, these tragic episodes remind us that in the past there were wars between Turks and Europeans, between Turks and Russians. Terrible and deadly wars.
How so many centuries of history can be forgotten so easily? Why our leaders greatly lack the capacity for in-depth analysis and historical dimension?
Why are they about to repeat the same mistakes?
We certainly have to look for the cause of the return of what was called « the Ottoman question » with the disastrous manner in which Turkey was pushed aside, for 20 years, when for this country the doors to any European prospect were shut, to push it towards a nationalist and quasi-fundamentalist party.
Though rewriting history achieves nothing there is no reason to consider this development as irreversible.
It would be sufficient to reach out to the Turks, without having them believe that entry into the European Union is conceivable today, for a more peaceful order to become possible again.
Doing everything and working tirelessly to reintroduce Turkey into the European arena should, therefore, be the highest priority task of our diplomacy.
If this can be achieved, and it will not be easy, this narrowly averted disaster will need to be remembered so as not to make the same mistake with the Russians by isolating them also, and making them aggressive also: there has never been anything worse, for us, Europeans, than isolating ourselves from our neighbors.
j@attali.com