When George Bush stood on the banks of the Bosporus in June and called on the European Union to admit Turkey as a member, the European reaction was chilly. The EU must decide by December whether to open negotiations with Turkey, and it is edging towards saying yes. But the issue is sensitive in Europe, and pressure from the United States is not appreciated. Jacques Chirac, the French president, spoke for many of his colleagues when he said that the decision was none of America's business. The Americans, however, think they have a direct interest in supporting Turkey's bid. David Phillips of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York sums up this view when he writes in the latest edition of Foreign Affairs that "EU membership would anchor Turkey in the West, fortify it as a firewall against terrorism and help make it a model of democracy for the Muslim world." Such conventional wisdom often carries with it another not-so-hidden assumption: that, rather as with the ten central European countries that have just joined the EU, Turkey would bolster pro-American sentiment within the EU, counteracting those older countries, notably France, that have flirted with creating a counterweight to America.
展开▼
