A lack of knowledge

“Every day the stakes are higher in terms of cohabitation and dialogue with the Arab world: we cannot shut ourselves up in fortress Europe; on the contrary, it is the task of men of culture to have the courage to look to the future”, declared SALVATORE BONO , professor emeritus at the University of Perugia and President of the Société internationale des historiens de la Méditerranée. Prof. Bono was speaking at the European Week on “Religious History of Islam in the Balkans” now being held (until Saturday 9 Sept.) at Gazzada (Varese), sponsored by the Paul VI Ambrosian Foundation and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. THE TURKISH QUESTION. “Turkey’s entry into Europe will not be complete if it be not accompanied by a moral and spiritual acceptance of the country and of its history as an integral part of the fabric of Europe”, said Bono. “The current ‘spectre of the Turk’, as fear for Turkey’s integration in the European Union – he added – can only be interpreted in relation to the overall image of Islam”. “The influence and presence in Europe of Turks, i.e. the Muslims who extended their sovereignty to the whole Mediterranean Arab world between the 16th and the 18th century – pointed out Prof. Bono -, are more widespread, far-reaching and significant that generally recognized”. Such ignorance determines prejudices that the political class is trying to remove. “Might not Europe’s relations with the Turks prefigure a clash between civilizations?”, asked Bono. “Yes, if we limit ourselves to battles and fears. But the relation did not consist just of this”. So, now as in the past, the clash of civilization is not the right key to understand relations between Europe and the Arab world: “To grasp this – he concluded – all we need do is to look back at history”. EU AND MEDITERRANEAN. The European Union, for its part, is making an effort “to facilitate not only commercial and political relations with the countries of the Mediterranean basin and of Eastern Europe, including Moslem countries, but also cultural and social exchanges”, observed SARA SILVESTRI , researcher at the University of Cambridge and lecturer in international policy at the City University in London. An example of this is the “Euro-Mediterranean partnership” begun in 1995. The project has three guidelines: “A political dialogue to promote stability, development of civil society and peace; privileged economic exchanges to support the local economy through the facilitated access of these countries to European markets; social and cultural contacts that also take the form of student exchanges and the development of joint cultural initiatives”. Since the start of the project the countries involved, apart from the EU, are those that face onto the Mediterranean, but to these the Balkans and Eastern Europe have now been added, with a wider project of “neighbourhood policy”. Nonetheless, laments Silvestri, “we are still not on the right road: less words and more concrete actions are needed”. This is a criticism shared by Bono as far as the “Anna Lind” Foundation for dialogue between cultures is concerned. The Foundation was established in 2004 as part of the partnership project. Bono is now a member of its advisory committee: “Europe – he stressed – must not have the presumption of having received more than it has given, but seek points of encounter by respecting differences”. AMONG THE ROOTS OF EUROPE. As regards the roots of Europe and the role Islam has had in them, “the Balkans too, with their religious history, form part of them”, said Father LORENZO MAGGIONI , a young priest of the diocese of Milan. “The greatness of our continent – he added – consists in a peaceful pluralism between different cultures and religions. This also includes Islam. In our relations with Islam we need, he said, to go beyond an antithetical approach which sees Islam as an alien body with which we now have to come to terms”. This is a judgement considered “idealistic” by Father GIORGIO FEDALTO of the University of Padua, who urged that history not be confused with “futurology”. “Co-existence today is difficult, and it is Muslims themselves who have admitted it – observed Fedalto -, when they affirm that in twenty years’ time Europe, if only in demographic terms, will be dominated by their religion”. Yet “the cohabitation between Christians and Muslims has been rooted for centuries in Bosnia but has now been lost”, said LUCIA ZANARELLA of Padua: “The Dayton accords – she added – have relegated this country to a reserve, and Europe does not know what to do to restore the former co-existence, while public opinion, for its part, is tragically ignorant of the history of the Balkans”.