Building without haste” “

“This start of negotiations is very important because, as I hope, it will also facilitate the legal recognition of the Church”, comments Msgr. Georges Marovitch , spokesman of the Turkish bishops, in welcoming with satisfaction the news of the start of Turkey’s accession negotiations with the Eu. “This event – he told SIR – will enrich us all”. And the Catholic Church too will derive advantage from it. “We have freedom of worship – he explains – but since we do not enjoy juridical personality, the assets acquired during the Ottoman Empire are not recognized by the Republic, as a result of which we are slowly losing our real estate that serves for the upkeep of the Church. If the Turkish State were to accept the signing of a modus vivendi with the Holy See, the problem would be resolved”. So the longed-for moment has arrived, but the process before Turkey will be long and not devoid of obstacles… “There’s great satisfaction that this negotiation is now opening. Christians, Jews and Muslims, we all think that this stage of rapprochement with the EU will be mutually enriching. It’s clear that the road ahead of us will be long and difficult. There are exams we need to pass. But when you begin to construct a building you need time and especially you need everyone to bring bricks. In this phase our biggest enemy is haste”. What will be the cement that will hold this building together? “We need to have common measures and hence shared values. To use a Turkish proverb, “we need to hold onto the rope that God has given to us”: if we let go of it we will fall. In other words the cement is those shared values of the faithful of the great monotheist religions. The laws voted by European countries like Holland, France, Belgium and Spain demonstrate that the Christian tradition has been forgotten. The faith that Islam cherishes for such values as life can be a source of enrichment for Europe. Also in the peace process we cannot ignore Islam. Turkey, a country that forms a bridge between East and West, can help to foster peace and reconciliation between the religions. In the Ottoman Empire many faiths lived freely together. Europe can derive benefit from this experience”. Yet the risk of Islamic fundamentalism remains… “In Turkey the vast majority of the population is very open. Last week an interfaith symposium was held in Antioch, at which the participants prayed together, each in his own faith. This is the open and tolerant face of Turkey”. (cf. page 24). What advantage will Europe derive from Turkey’s possible membership? “Turkey is three times the size of Italy and two times the size of France. It’s a huge country full of natural resources, especially water. They are riches, moreover, that have not yet been properly exploited. In the past, under the Ottoman Empire, many Europeans emigrated to Turkey to work, the so-called Levantines. In the same way there are now five million Turkish workers in Europe. Over 20,000 Germans have settled in the South of Turkey in recent years. They have bought houses and established industries. And that’s just the beginning. Turkey is a huge and rich country”. And yet the fact remains that a part of European public opinion is unfavourable to Turkish accession. Why? “Because they don’t know Turkey. At times incomplete or biased judgements can be drawn from history and from books. Those who have experienced and know well the Turkish reality think differently. Pope John XXIII lived for ten years here in Turkey and came to love this country. In his writings he noted that the Turks have their place in the civilization of the world. In the field of civilization the Turks have something to teach us. Moreover, Europe must recognize that Turkey for years was the bulwark against the Communist regime on the other side of the Iron Curtain. That’s history”. What do you say of the Cypriot question or that of the Armenians? Two questions that burden Turkey’s EU membership bid. “As far as Cyprus is concerned, two weights and two measures have been used. Europe has in fact recognized and permitted the entry into the EU of the southern part of the island, the Greek part, before this had resolved its dispute with the northern, Turkish part, as was stipulated by the EU accession terms, on the basis of which a country that has grave problems with its neighbours cannot enter the Union. On the question of the Armenians, a massacre took place and it needs to be recognized. But we also need to re-read history to understand more clearly what actually happened. Before 1915 the Armenians were the people best loved by the Turks. But I would like to reply to your question with the words of the Armenian patriarch: we need to forget the past and build the future. We need to build a single monument to commemorate the martyrs and the victims of the Turks and of the Armenians”.