PRESS RELEASE
17,11,2004
The Missing South Eastern Pillar for Unifying the European Continent
The European Commission’s recommendation for the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey is a long awaited awareness of Turkey’s capacity to contribute to stability, security and prosperity in its region. The challenge of the management of the EU’s long new external borders has to be addressed by Turkey’s efforts to improve and deepen its relations with the neighbouring countries coordinated with a sound European strategy towards its new periphery.
The inclusion of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in June, 2004 was publicized as a significant step forward in the Union’s engagement with the South Caucasus region. The efficiency of the role of the Union in the South Caucasus will depend on its ability to establish a true partnership particularly in the area of conflict resolution, political and economic reform and intra-regional co-operation.
The ENP was defined as the response to both challenges and opportunities of enlargement aiming at reframing and strengthening relations with those who find themselves on the external land and sea border of the Union. Therefore it is of utmost importance that the EU strives to reinforce existing forms of regional and sub regional cooperation and contribute to efforts at conflict resolution, in order to take up the challenge, enshrined in the newly defined strategy, of “Avoiding drawing new dividing lines in Europe” .
The European strategy for developing an area of good “neighbourliness” has been based on cross-border cooperation. Cross-border regionalism has flourished over the past two decades, beginning in the heartlands along the western border of Germany, and taking a new step in the 1990’s when, in response to the opening of the Iron Curtain, Euroregions were set up from the Finno-Russian border down to Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia. The ENP strategy recognizes the need to foster cooperation both at the European Union external border and among partner countries, especially those among them that are geographically close. Cross-border cooperation is aiming to contribute to integrated and sustainable regional development between neighbouring border regions
Turkey, integrated into the enlargement process, can play a pivotal role in the framing and implementation of the ENP. Cross border cooperation applied to Turkey’s external border will contribute tremendously to the creation of an area of good-neighbourhood and shared prosperity at the European periphery. Turkey’s eastern border, separating Anatolia from the Caucasus, ancient frontier with the USSR, is as important as the border between the enlarged Union and Russia, for the stability of the European continent.
On the Eastern external border of the Union, regional economic cooperation is already quite strong. The Northern Dimension initiative, aiming to address trans-national and cross-border issues along the EU-Russian border and problems related to uneven regional development, was launched in 1998. More recently, the Union decided, through the creation of four common spaces, to support the further development of cross-border cooperation at on its border with Russia.
The 2004 Regular Report on Turkey’s Progress Towards Accession scrutinizes Turkey’s relations with its Caucasian neighbours, with a particular focus on cross-border relations: “Turkey’s border with Armenia is still closed. However, there seems to be rising public awareness of the benefits of reopening the border and preparations for enabling goods transit from third countries. Charter service started in October 2003 to provide air transportation from Istanbul to Yerevan. The Turkish minister of communications stated in February 2004 that the reopening of the railway between the two countries would benefit to the eastern Anatolian economy. A trilateral meeting took place for the first time at the level of foreign ministers between Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the margins of the NATO summit held in Istanbul in June 2004. Turkey has made a positive contribution to regional stability in the Southern Caucasian by its attitude towards the political changes in Georgia as well as the situation in Adjaria.”
The Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC) believes in the pressing need to launch a South-Eastern Dimension initiative on Turkish-Caucasian border. The efficient promotion of a cross-border cooperation on the second European land border calls for the inclusion of a sub-regional dimension into the European Neighbourhood Instrument. It is important that cross-border programmes at work on Turkey’s borders with Bulgaria and Greece be extended to its Eastern border, and the individual Action Plans to be developed jointly by each of the South Caucasian states and the EU, focus on cross-border and trans-national issues with Turkey.
The report of the European Commission, analyzing issues arising from Turkey’s membership perspective, considers that the extension of the its borders to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, will give the EU the capacity, through Turkey, to have a stabilizing influence in Southern Caucasus, provided that Turkey is willing to try to solve conflicts with its neighbours during its accession process. Turkey’s potential contribution to easing tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the dispute concerning Nagorno-Karabakh is highlighted. In this regard, the need for the normalization of its relations with Armenia with the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of the land border becomes all the more pressing. Foreseeing the lifting of this political barrier, the EU has a great potential to play a constructive role in the region as a civil power with experience in successfully employing economic incentives linked to political and diplomatic initiatives. The EU needs to conduct a dialogue with Turkey on policies and actions vis-à-vis the region. In this regard, additional support through instruments such as technical assistance and twinning will boost the further development of various forms of cross-border cooperation involving local and regional authorities, non-governmental actors and business communities by building on the achievements of TABDC and its partners in the border regions. The promotion of infrastructure interconnections and modernization in the field of transport and energy is an important task. The rehabilitation of the railway connection between the Turkish city of Kars and the Armenian city of Gyumri, integrated into the TRACECA transport corridor in December 2001, will benefit tremendously to the whole region, carrying the potential to foster new dynamics to defreeze conflicts by questioning the status quo and boosting the integration of production and distribution networks.
Cross-border cooperation has proved to be a major tool in unifying the European continent. It has to be at work on the 600 km long Eastern portion of the Iron Curtain. European experience has shown that cooperation over the lines of past confrontation is the best way to correct the evils of history and geography.
Dr. Burcu Gültekin
Europe Coordinator
Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council
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