Robin Wilton's esoterica

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03 Oct · Mon 2005

Austria learns a valuable lesson

Well, in a piece of brinksmanship the likes of which we haven't seen since the Cold War, the Turkish delegates appear to have judged things to a nicety. Austria, the lone dissenting voice opposing the start of long-promised accession talks for Turkey, finally withdrew its demands for them to be offered everything short of full membership. The talks can now begin. Some of the comments which accompanied the agreement focus on the fact that Turkey will be the first Muslim country in the EU --- though Turkey has been a secular state for almost 100 years, has a constitution which establishes freedom of religion, and a legal system derived from the European model rather than Sharia law. But to my mind, that's not the real point. Most of the existing member states have a Muslim population of some kind, and are increasingly aware of the niceties of Islam and Muslim culture. No, the real point is that this opens the door to a Turkish presence at the negotiating table, which, as the Austrians have just found out, is going to add a whole new dimension to things. In my experience (and let me qualify this by saying that I mean it in the most affectionate way: all my visits to Turkey, whether for business or pleasure, have been thoroughly enjoyable) there are two things about transacting with a Turk. First, don't even think of trying to out-negotiate, out-haggle, or even out-play them at backgammon. Second, the word 'byzantine' doesn't have its current connotations for nothing: it often seemed to me that my Turkish counterparts would do business any way except simply, and that a deal was only worth winning if it was thoroughly convoluted. I have a sneaking feeling those Brussels Eurocrats are only just starting to suspect what lies ahead of them. (The BBC article notes, rather ominously, that even the talks are expected to last up to ten years...). The Turks, on the other hand, must be eyeing the Brussels power structures with the same sort of gaze a child reserves for a brand new adventure playground. It could even promise to be quite a spectator sport. We're unlikely to see anything quite as entertaining in Brussels until the accession of either the Armenians or the Lebanese, both of whom, in my opinion, can give the Turks a run for their lira in the negotiating stakes.

Posted by racingsnake @ 06:58 PM GMT+00:00

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