Suat Kiniklioglu, who came to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) from the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said they will accelerate the EU process immediately after the elections.

Suat Kiniklioglu, the director of German Marshall Fund, an American NGO, now the AK Party Cankiri candidate, thinks that Turkey’s EU membership is a political, not technical, decision.

Noting that there are no concerns about a globally integrated Turkey being divided, Kiniklioglu said: “We have self-confidence. I walk down the street as a Turkish, Muslim global citizen. We have been growing by 7 percent annually in the last five years. We are integrating with the world. We are negotiating with the EU. We live in a respected and admired Turkey.”

AK Party Cankiri candidate Kiniklioglu kindly took time from his busy schedule to answer questions posed by Today’s Zaman.

While there are signals hinting that Turkey’s foreign policy will enter a different period, will Turkey’s decelerated relations with the EU sustain fluctuations?

We want to reaccelerate the reform process in Turkey. For one reason or another we haven’t been able to develop it as quickly as we wanted, but after the election one of our first priorities is to rejuvenate Turkey’s EU process by improving Turkey’s ability to express itself in EU capitals.

According to the latest public opinion poll, 52 percent of the public supports the EU. Do you hear criticism from your constituents about the EU’s unfair stance toward Turkey? If double standards are removed, will support for the EU increase to 80 percent?

I think it could. I went to Sabanoz, where a 2 million euro stream rehabilitation project is under way and an 8 million euro rehabilitation center is being built. These projects are being financed by the EU. The Ministry of Agriculture has projects in and around Cankiri. While trying to understand a complex mechanism like the EU, people naturally perceive it as a “good work.” They don’t explain the European Union properly to the representatives here. They spend a lot of money, but I don’t think they communicate the right messages to the right channels. The European Union could be explained better. Actually, if we have around 52 percent of the vote, I think this is very important. If you think about it, we haven’t really talked about the EU for the last year and a half. It’s not even on our agenda. The excitement over the EU at the political level has also faded. It’s like we’ve put it on the back burner. So if we have 52 percent of public support under these circumstances I’d say it’s a big deal.

What do you mean by rejuvenating relations?

We need to understand that Turkey’s EU membership is a political, not technical, decision. Hence, European public opinion and media must be engaged in this process. Our responsibility as the government, the opposition, intellectuals, the media, leaders, the youth and women is to work together at full speed. God willing, if we become the next government, my biggest aim is to adopt a communication strategy for European Union countries. I will find the sources and create a group to bring this strategy to life. We have so many unknown faces and advantages that we can explain to the EU. The first weekend I went to Cankiri, I stayed at a hotel. I walked in and told the receptionist that I was Suat Kiniklioglu. The receptionist said ‘I know you from the Internet.’ I asked where the closest access point was, and the receptionist said there was Internet access in every room. I lived in Germany and I go there on business trips often. No hotel in Germany on the same scale as the hotel in Cankiri would have wireless Internet access in their rooms.

I was in Germany for research a few years ago and at the hotel they asked me if I wanted a room with a bathroom. This was in one of the smaller cities in Germany. Europeans don’t know these things. Sometimes we don’t realize it, but we are far advanced in the services sector in these types of things. Europeans are actually more conservative than we are on some issues. You can’t change some things this fast, but we are a nation that knows how to undergo a quick transformation and adapt to it. Perhaps, as you say, this is a quality that has been embedded in our genetic code.

Are you preparing to advance communication toward presenting Turkey?

Economic circles see but don’t completely understand Turkey’s ability to change and transform. If you asked a Parisian about an Anatolian city, instantly he or she would say it was a place that still had a Middle Age lifestyle. We should not explain what we are doing in Turkey but explain about Turkey herself. We can’t do this with tourism brochures. Instead we have to participate in debates in Europe. What is on the agenda now in Europe? Is it the constitution? There are people in Turkey that can discuss such issues, but we have to engage them. We have to invite people and we have to devise opportunities for them to join this process. They need to be able to reserve time to do this. We have intellectuals, and we are obliged to be involved in the debates. We should not become a member of the project just for financial gain. If Europe is ours, then we have to take responsibility for this project. Our intellectuals have to participate in debates in Europe. This has to be organized. We will create a pool for Turkish intellectuals to write columns on the EU process. We will develop a strategy.

For example, we will say this is our stance on the issue in France, Spain and Germany. We will work to have those articles published in the press of those countries. We have to be a part of the debates. The EU debate should not revolve strictly around Turkey’s membership. We are a part of Europe, whether you like it or not, so we must voice our opinions. If we can take up arguments in this context, then the membership problem will be resolved naturally over time. Otherwise, the only thing we have are two people leaving the table on conflicting terms. The sides complain about being misunderstood. But instead of complaining, we need to focus on what Europe is talking about and whether it’s energy or the constitution, Turkey should have a say. By doing this they will see that the issue is important for us and that we are a part of the argument. Plus, there are countries that do want us like England, Italy, Spain and Greece. All the Aegean countries want us because it’s a big deal for them for a populated country like ours to join the EU.

The election results in France brought a new dimension…

Sarkozy’s election complicated the situation further. Now, Europe will have to face its Turkey reality. This might be advantageous for us. We might be able to force Europe to face its Turkey reality with Sarkozy because keeping the negotiations at a technical leaving is an advantage for Turkey and it delays the two countries from facing each other. It is an advantage because the reform process works in favor of Turkey. But one of the main reasons I joined politics is that a political system with an articulate infrastructure isn’t explained effectively in other countries. I am going to work 24 hours [a day] to do this because we believe we are doing the right thing. In the name of nationalism, some oppose the EU because they fear the country will be divided. But we have confidence. Turkey isn’t a cake that can be divided into pieces. There is a 1,000-year-old social fabric here. There is an awareness of being united. Despite the pre-’80s agitation, violence and deaths, we have no concern that this country will be divided. I can walk down the street a proud Turkish, Muslim global citizen. What I see is that we have been growing by 7 percent annually in the last five years, we are integrating with the world, we are negotiating with the EU and we live in a respected and admired Turkey.

During the presidential candidate nomination, Prime Minister Erdogan hinted at prioritizing foreign policy in the coming term and said, “We want a prime minister who will pay close attention to foreign policy.” Will the new changes you bring to Turkey’s EU and US policy manifest itself in the AK Party’s policy?

Let me share an interesting anecdote about our prime minister’s performance in foreign policy. I traveled to Israel in November. While in Jerusalem, we shopped at stores in the Arab neighborhood. We spoke English instead of Turkish. One of the merchants at the bazaar asked us if we were Turks. We said yes and the merchant said: ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I’ll give you a discount.’ I asked him why he was going to give us a discount. His response was interesting. ‘Your foreign policy is tough; your prime minister can speak out against Israel. It wasn’t like that before,’ he said.

This is a real example. This country is no longer the Cold War’s satellite country. This is a country that has a growing economy and is undergoing talks with the EU. Visitors from Lebanon, the Caucasus and Central Asia will say ‘We are in Europe’ when they come to Turkey. What upsets me the most is the lack of self-confidence in some people. In intellectual discussions we note that there is a lack of self-confidence in nationalists. I love my country and I have self-confidence. I’ve traveled to many places around the world and I’ve chatted with many people, so I know that Turkey isn’t under the risk of being divided or collapsed. Such baseless claims are the last efforts of those who have not been able to adapt to the new standards and globalization. We came from the periphery to the center. We are the political voice of the periphery. Unlike what was expected, both the periphery and the center have become successful. We have become a respected country in the world. Sure there are negative developments such as the situation in Iraq and the process after March 1, but that is no reason to stop. We will continue on our path.

You say there will be changes in Turkey’s relations with the US before and after the elections?

Relations with America are related to the current administration’s perception of the region and world. The US administration has hampered the ideological aspect of foreign policy. Its State Department has been distant. Wolfowitz was the last among them and now he is gone, too. There is a small group in Washington that understands Turkey, and I think they are aware of the situation. However, America’s foreign policy is so busy with its own issues that it isn’t aware of how far Turkey has advanced. Turkish-US relations will have to be redefined. I think there is a paradigmatic change here. March 1, 2003 was a wakeup call for America to realize that some things have changed in Turkey.

There have been important developments in recent years. Turkey is not the same actor in the Middle East as it was five years ago. Are the Americans aware that Turkey has changed significantly?

The Americans are aware of it, but as a global dominion they are having a hard time accepting it because now there is a new player on the field. What I have been emphasizing in my trips to Washington over the past two years is that Turkey is an important actor in the Middle East region; it is respectful and is in dialogue with everyone. We can have dialogue with both Israel and Gaza and Syria and Iran. It’s very hard for them to accept this reality especially when their Mideast strategy has failed. It’s hard because they still perceive Turkey as an old militant satellite country that will do just about anything they want. They think they can fix everything by coming to Ankara and talking with a few high officials. But accepting that Turkey is no longer like that requires a major change in gears. I don’t think they have been able to successfully shift their gears. We simply want the US to be smart, acknowledge, accept and embrace Turkey’s new role, and benefit from Turkey’s role as a moderate, stable and successful country.

For example, Turkey does not have a seat on the table where many of the Middle East processes on the Israel and Palestine problems are discussed. Why? Because we have to show that Turkey wants to sit at that table. They have to accept that there is a different Turkey in front of them. I don’t think they have been able to do this. Our responsibility is to use activities, dialogue and communication to make this mental shift for them easy. This can be done, but we have to explain ourselves effectively because those who don’t like us and don’t want us can explain our new roles and activities to them differently and make them reluctant to accept Turkey’s new role.