From the columns

From the columns:

Turkish columnists yesterday wrote about Turkey's political will to join the European Union; the end of the European project after rejection of the union's constitution in France and the Netherlands; and the distinctive difference between headscarf and turban.

Turkey should improve image in the West:

“Is it possible for the EU to say they are currently interested in their own problems and cannot deal with Turkey?” asked Milliyet's Hasan Cemal.

He asked whether EU officials can delay the start of accession talks with Turkey, scheduled for Oct. 3.

“It seems there is no such possibility. The membership negotiations will start on Oct. 3. But one thing is certain. Our lives will get more complicated,” he wrote.

Cemal said the government was aware of this and predicted difficult days ahead for Ankara after the opening of entry talks.

He claimed the government would face problems domestically as well with the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) poised to target the government, particularly on the Cyprus issue.

"Will the government's political determination to join the EU continue under these circumstances?” He said he posed this question to sources close to the government.

His sources made it clear there was no change in the government's stance towards the EU and that Ankara was prepared to face pressure from Europe.

Cemal said the European Commission assured Turkey talks would start as planned, but EU officials confessed that Turkey had strengthened the hand of the anti-Turkey camp in the EU since the Dec. 17 decision by EU leaders to give a negotiations start date.

Cemal said he agreed with EU officials on this. “A student was detained for reading a poem… A local administrator ordered the destruction of books by well-known Turkish author Orhan Pamuk [due to the writer's remarks on the alleged Armenian genocide]… Police beat female demonstrators… The public attempted to lynch flag-draggers… The closure of an education union (Eğitim-Sen)… Debates over secularism, etc.”

Cemal said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should initiate campaigns to improve Turkey's image. For example, he can tour Europe and hold conferences. “It's not too late.”

The end of European utopia:

“Everyone is arguing to what extent ‘no' votes on the European constitution in France and the Netherlands mean to Turkey's EU membership,” Radikal's Türker Alkan quoted a reader as saying in a letter.

“In fact, it is not correct to ask the question that way. What was rejected by the Europeans is the EU itself,” Alkan said.

He said nationalism lost value after bloody wars in Europe and the civilization project was based upon a multi-cultural structure.

“Every civilization project wants to become universal and hence the attempts to transform surrounding countries in accordance to its own utopia. Turkey's transformation by the EU was to be the first step of this universal civilization project,” he said.

“European people put an end to ongoing debates and said ‘no' to the union's expansion, which was to eliminate the national identities of its members.”

Difference between headscarf, turban:

“One of the best articles I've recently read about the headscarf and turban was that from daily Sabah columnist Hıncal Uluç on Wednesday,” said Milliyet's Fikret Bila.

He said Uluç made a distinction between the headscarf and turban with good examples and clarified that the turban, not the headscarf worn by Anatolian women, was a political symbol.

“As Uluç correctly said, the problem is the abuse of religion in politics. If Turkey has a turban and headscarf problem, it is because of decades-old political activities,” he said.

“It's possible to see the difference between headscarf and turban in the modernization process of the Turkish Republic. One of the most important developments that came with the republic was schools. Headscarf-wearing Anatolian women sent their daughters who don't wear headscarves to school,” he said.

“That's why most of us say today that our mothers and grandmothers wore headscarves.” He added that these mothers and grandmothers were uneducated people who moved to cities from villages in the early years of the republic and sent their daughters to urban schools.

“One of the most important reasons for allowing headscarf-wearing mothers to attend the graduation ceremony of their children in civilian and military schools is that these mothers are aware of the significance of modern education. They sent their children to schools for a proper education. This means republic; this means development.”