Feature – Ali Babacan: Turkey’s European face
By Myria Antoniadou
Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
July 17 2005
HIS appointment took much longer than was expected. It was said the
various forces within Turkey were trying to impose their own man for
the country’s top EU-related job.
Finally, under the pressure for Ankara to show it was on track despite
growing anti-Turkish public sentiment and frustration at the Commission
for the delay, Prime Minister Erdogan imposed his will: Ali Babacan,
the 38-year-old US trained Finance Minister and founding member of
the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was also appointed
chief negotiator in the talks with the EU on June 3.
This week, Babacan was in Brussels for acquaintance meetings with some
Commissioners and his first public appearance, before the European
Parliament. What was obvious was that Babacan still has a long way to
go until he learns the ins and outs of the EU, and, more importantly,
how to handle them.
One issue many agree on is that the young Turkish Finance Minister,
who did his Master’s in Business Management on a US Fulbright
scholarship, is clever and a very hard worker. He is the neo-liberal or
‘anglo-saxon’ face of Turkey.
After his studies, he stayed on in the US doing financial consulting to
top executives of major banks and managing projects. In 1994 he became
chairman of his family’s textile business, being the first to introduce
wholesale mail order in this area, while at the same time he was chief
advisor to Ankara’s mayor securing financing for important projects.
Babacan also managed relations with the World Bank and is widely
respected as the driving force behind market reforms that have won
billions of dollars in International Monetary Fund support, and helped
bring the country out of deep financial crisis.
However, what helped him become popular in Turkey may backfire on
him on the EU level. Before the European Parliament Foreign Affairs
Committee on Tuesday, he spent the large part of his 30-minute speech
on Turkey’s economy. Babacan painted a rosy picture of the years
ahead, in response to the concerns that Turkey’s accession would be
a financial burden to Europe and would signal an influx of immigrants.
“He tried convincing us that if we do not all invest in Turkey,
we are set to lose, but did not respond to the political concerns,”
one person commented. MEPs, who are politicians and therefore do
not adopt the milder stance of diplomats or commission officials,
have expressed disappointment because in their two-hour exchange of
views he did not really reply to their questions.
Quite a few members of the Foreign Relations Committee, the Mail
has learned, believe that not only was he evasive, but he lingered
in his replies. Those from the Christian Democrat (EPP-ED) group,
which is divided over Turkey’s accession, were particularly critical,
showing the tough times ahead for Ankara’s officials.
Cypriot member of the Committee and former foreign minister, Ioannis
Kasoulides, told the Sunday Mail Babacan was very evasive and caused
frustration among some members. He noted the Turkish negotiator
did not reply to concrete political questions with precision and in
substance, especially on the need for Turkey to recognise Cyprus,
address the Armenian question and safeguard freedoms and rights of
religious minorities.
On Cyprus and the Armenian issue, Babacan restricted himself to
recalling statements made by the Turkish Premier and the Foreign
Minister.
In addition, he called for “care” in public statements because the
people of Turkey “can be offended”, something which did not go down
well in Brussels. MEPs from new member states also rejected his claims
that the EU is being more strict with Turkey.
These criticisms were raised in writing by Dr Renata Sommers, MEP
for Germany’s Christian Democrat party (CDU), expected to win the
upcoming elections. In a press release, she expressed dismay with
Babacan’s rejection of Turkey being offered a privileged partnership,
an issue expected to be raised quite often in the months ahead.
To some extent, Babacan maintains the general Turkish attitude of
not really understanding the long and difficult process beginning
in October. Ankara, as some eurocrats and diplomats say, does not
realise there is nothing much to negotiate on, as it is an exercise
of determining the changes to be made for Turkey to align with EU
rules and regulations.
However, it seems the soft-spoken Turkish official had a more timid
stance in his meetings with Commissioners, to the extent that he
appeared slightly nervous, according to EU sources. Babacan came
across as aware of the difficulties ahead and the negative climate
towards Turkish accession in some quarters, and assured he would work
hard to keep his country on track.
>>From October 3 onwards, this young Turkish official, of conservative
Muslim background, will be Turkey’s European face and will come
under much scrutiny, not only in his country, but in 25 states across
the continent.