TR PLUS – Avrupa'da Türkiye Merkezi olarak hazırlamaya başladığımız Türkiye – AB Bülteni'nin dördüncü sayısı yayında.

Türkiye – AB ilişkilerini şekillendiren gelişmeleri aktaran bültenimizi her ay www.centreforturkeyineurope.eu  web sitemizden takip edebilirsiniz. Alanında bir ilk olan bülten, her sayısında önceki ayın gelişmelerini tarafsız bir gözle özetleyerek yurt dışında Türkiye'yi izlemeye çalışanların önemli bir ihtiyacına yanıt verme amacını taşıyor.

[ZpicL:11297]Zeynep Göğüş'ün editörlüğünde TR Plus Brüksel ve İstanbul ofisleri tarafından Euractiv.com.tr'nin (www.euractiv.com.tr) desteğiyle hazırlanan "Turkey-EU Update" adlı bültenimizin dördüncü sayısında, Erdoğan'ın yeni kabinesinin bölgesel ve AB merkezli denklemi, Türkiye'nin sosyal politika, istihdam ve vergilendirme konularında açmaya hazırlandığı AB başlıkları, KKTC seçimleri, devam eden Ergenekon soruşturması, Türkiye'nin AB üyeliğine Obama'nın desteği,  iç ve dış politika, ekonomi ve ticaret, sivil toplum ve AB fonları konularına yer verildi.

Bültene katkıda bulunanlar: Zeynep Göğüş - Gökşen Çalışkan - Tuğçe Işıkara - Begüm İmamoğlu - Damla Akbay
 
TR PLUS – CENTRE FOR TURKEY IN EUROPE EU – TURKEY UPDATE ISSUE 4, MAY 2009
 
TR PLUS – Centre For Turkey in Europe shares news of political, economic and cultural developments relevant to Turkey's internal and foreign politics agenda and international economic relations. This monthly "Turkey – Europe Agenda" is prepared by the Brussels and Istanbul offices of TR PLUS - Centre for Turkey in Europe with the support of Euractiv.com.tr.
 
We are pleased to share with you this fourth issue of TR PLUS – Centre for Turkey in Europe's monthly update on developments in Turkey's relations with the EU. The appointment in a May 1 government reshuffle of Ahmet Davutoğlu, architect of Turkey's new Middle East diplomacy, as Minister of Foreign Affairs may lead to a slight shift in Turkey's approach to foreign policy. But appointments in other key areas such as economic coordination, budget and finance and energy show that Turkey's ongoing negotiations with the EU remain in the orbit of Prime Minister Erdoğan.

Turkey-Armenia relations are back at the top of the agenda, as are the ongoing investigations into the so-called Ergenekon plotters who allegedly intended to overthrow Mr. Erdoğan's government. TR PLUS, while backing actions to underpin democracy, worries that the credibility of the case may suffer from the way the investigations are being carried out, interpreted by some as a strategy by the government to intimidate opponents.

The controversy over the appointment of former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Secretary-General of NATO shows how Turkey has learned to use European methods of diplomacy, with results that may not always be pleasing European leaders.

Last but not least, we would like to share with you an interesting article about Turkey's lobbying efforts in Brussels. In an interview with TR PLUS, academic researcher Bilge Fırat reveals that Turks still have a lot to learn in this field.

ZEYNEP GÖĞÜŞ

President of TR PLUS – Centre for Turkey in Europe
•
Erdoğan's new government balances regional and EU focus
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Turkey prepares to open EU negotiations on social policy and employment and on taxation, makes May Day a public holiday
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Turkey-Armenia moves welcomed in Brussels but raise questions for energy diplomacy
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Nationalist victory in Northern Cyprus elections raises queries over reunification talks
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The ongoing Ergenekon investigation: Defending democracy in Turkey, or intimidating opponents?
•
Obama backs Turkey's EU accession bid, but progress in democratisation will be key
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Turkey flexes its diplomatic muscles over NATO appointment
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Lobbying in Brussels, the Turkish Case
 
INTHISUPDATE:

Centre For Turkey in Europe shares news of political, economic and cultural developments relevant to Turkey's internal and foreign politics agenda and international economic relations.

A May 1 government reshuffle announced by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan underscores efforts to bolster Turkey's regional influence in the Middle East, while strengthening fiscal discipline at home as part of efforts to press forward with Turkey's EU accession bid.

Analysts described the reshuffle as a well thought-out operation balancing nominations such that of Bülent Arınç, who represents the radical arm of the ruling AKP party, as one of three deputy prime ministers, with the appointment of a second woman in the government, to give it a modern face.

Ahmet Davutoğlu, a former policy adviser to the prime minister responsible for giving Turkey's foreign policy greater focus on the Middle East, takes over as foreign minister in place of Ali Babacan who has been made a deputy prime minister responsible for coordination of country's economy. In other significant changes, Taner Yıldız replaces Hilmi Güler as minister of energy and natural resources, while Nihat Ergün becomes minister of industry and commerce and Sadullah Ergin takes over as minister of justice.

A soft-spoken 50-year-old former academic who is not a member of parliament, Mr. Davutoğlu, the new foreign minister, has been influential in shaping a foreign policy aimed at giving Turkey a pivotal role as mediator in conflicts in the Middle East, much of which was part of the Ottoman Empire until World War I. He graduated from Istanbul Erkek High School, which is a Deutsche Auslandsschule (German International School) and the Department of Economics and Political Science of the Boğaziçi University, Istanbul. He holds a masters degree in Public Administration and a PhD degree in Political Science and International Relations from Boğaziçi University.

When Turkey launched a cross-border military operation against Kurdish rebel bases in neighbouring Iraq last year, he led a Turkish delegation that travelled to Baghdad to soothe Iraqi protests. Earlier this year, he led the Turkish team that shuttled between Israel and the radical Palestinian movement Hamas in January as part of international efforts to get a ceasefire. He is also known to be among the prime movers of Turkish-mediated indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria.

The cabinet reshuffle had been expected since local elections on March 29, in which Mr. Erdoğan's AKP party won an easy victory but saw its popularity shrink for the first time since it came to power in 2002. The AKP took 38.9 percent of the vote, almost eight points less than its previous electoral showing in 2007. The outcome was widely seen as a warning to the government to focus on the economy and compromise with secularist opponents, who accuse the AKP of undermining the Turkish Republic's secular principles.

ERDOĞAN'SNEWGOVERNMENTBALANCESREGIONALANDEUFOCUS

Mr. Babacan takes the helm of an economy heading for a deep recession after a 6.2 percent contraction in the fourth quarter sent unemployment to a record high of 15.5 percent in January. His appointment aims to help the government "maintain fiscal discipline -- one of the most important ingredients of our economic programme -- and achieve an improvement in the public sector borrowing requirement,' Mr. Erdoğan said.

Faced with falling exports and slowing consumer demand, the government is under pressure to sign a loan agreement with the IMF to weather the global economic crisis.

Weak public finances were one of the causes of previous economic crises, and economists have warned that Turkey may have to pay higher interest rates on its borrowings if it does not rein in public spending in the face of falling tax revenues. Mr. Babacan, who led Turkey out of a deep crisis as economy minister between 2002 and 2007, is expected to accelerate talks with the IMF. He replaces Mehmet Simsek, who was named finance minister.

In another significant change, Mr. Arınç, the former parliament speaker who has often angered secularists with comments deemed as targeting Turkey's secular system, became the second of the three deputy prime ministers. In his new post, Mr. Arınç, a member of parliament of 14 years standing who has recently featured in a controversy over alleged phone tappings of former generals discussing purported coup plans, will attend meetings of the National Security Council.

Eight ministers, including those of justice, finance, energy and education, lost their posts, while 10 -- among them the ministers of the interior and defence -- retained their offices. A second woman, Selma Aliye Kavaf, joined the cabinet as a state minister for women and family affairs, in place of Nimet Cubukcu, who was promoted to the education ministry.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=174153&bolum=101 

The Turkish government's decision to declare May 1 a national holiday brought Turkey closer to practices in many European Union countries as it prepares to open discussions on the workplace chapter of its EU accession negotiations.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced his intention of making May 1 a public holiday in early April, and Parliament passed this into law on April 29. On April 21, the EU and Ankara agreed to open two new chapters in Turkey's accession negotiations -- on social policy and employment and on taxation – by the end of June.

A peaceful May Day demonstration by 5,000 people in Istanbul's Taksim Square, allowed by police after hour-long negotiations with union representatives, gave a significant historical twist to celebrations across Turkey. Taksim Square, the site of a May Day rally in 1977 in which 36 people were killed when police opened fire on the crowd, had been off limits to demonstrations since a commemorative event in 1978.

TURKEY PREPARES TO OPEN EU NEGOTIATIONS ON SOCIAL POLICY AND EMPLOYMENT AND ON TAXATION, MAKES MAY DAY A PUBLIC HOLIDAY

For Turkish labour unions, which traditionally have lacked the influence enjoyed by their counterparts in many EU countries, the May Day celebrations marked an important opportunity to vocalize protest amid rising concern over the country's economic prospects. Almost one in three young people in Turkey is without a job and fears have been growing of social unrest and increased ethnic tension because of the downturn.

True to form, the May Day demonstrations were marred by violence in other parts of Istanbul, as protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police and smashed bank and shop windows in side streets. The clashes were not unexpected, however, as protesters regularly clash with police at demonstrations in Turkey. A May Day rally in Istanbul last year led to similar confrontations.

May 1 was first observed in Turkey as "Workers Day" in 1923, a designation that was changed to the "Spring and Flower Festival" in 1935. During the 1960s and 1970s, however, radical opposition to successive governments led to repeated clashes in demonstrations, and on May 1 1977 a massive demonstration in Istanbul's Taksim Square by as many as 500,000 participants turned to bloodshed when police opened fire. Thirty-six people died, hundreds were wounded and 453 were arrested in what came to be known as "Bloody May Day". Following a military coup in September 1980, May Day ceased to be a public holiday and celebrations were banned for eight years.

In 2008, the government gave its approval for May 1 to be celebrated as "Labour and Solidarity Day", but without making it a public holiday. This year's decision to make May 1 a national day off work was seen as a significant move as Turkey prepares to open negotiations on sensitive employment issues in such areas as union rights, labour regulations and the right of civil servants to organize and strike.

Moves by Turkey and Armenia to normalise their bilateral relations have been welcomed in Brussels as a step forward in resolving a dispute that has cast a shadow over Turkey's EU accession bid. But questions over how neighbouring Azerbaijan will react raise new uncertainties in the region's complex energy politics.

In a statement issued on April 22, the two countries announced a "roadmap" aimed at normalisation of their relations "in a mutually satisfactory manner". Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a televised speech on April 30, said the objective was "to ensure peace and stability in the region and eliminate the consequences of (past) armed conflicts."
Turkey was the first country to recognize Armenia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. But it closed its frontier with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan, with which it shares ethnic and linguistic ties, after ethnic Armenian separatist fighters took control of the Azerbaijani enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

TURKEY-ARMENIA MOVES WELCOMED IN BRUSSELS BUT RAISE QUESTIONS FOR ENERGY DIPLOMACY

With more than 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory now under Armenian occupation, a fragile cease-fire is in force. No peace accord has been signed, however, and Azeri officials have warned of possible tensions in the region if Turkey reopens its border and restores full diplomatic relations with Armenia without a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

Mr. Erdoğan, in his televised speech, insisted that Turkey would ensure that Azerbaijan's interests were fully taken into account. Normalisation of relations between all three countries could dramatically change prospects for future export routes for Caspian oil and natural gas to Europe via Turkey.

In a statement welcoming the April 22 announcement, which followed months of negotiations facilitated by Swiss mediators, the European Commission said it supported "both countries' diplomatic efforts towards full normalisation of bilateral relations."

In addition to boosting trade between the two countries, normalisation would mark a step towards resolving a bitter row over how to categorise the 1915 "great disaster" which cost the lives of large numbers of ethnic Armenians in Turkey. Turkey officially accepts that many Armenians were deported during a period civil unrest in the closing months of the Ottoman Empire, and that many Armenians died in the process. But there is no consensus over the numbers and a Turkish proposal for a historical commission to investigate the issue has not been followed up. According to Ottoman documents recently published by Turkish journalist Murat Bardakçı, some 900.000 Armenians were deported. But Armenians claim that as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed and have called for acknowledgement of the killings as the first genocide of the 20th century. Their demands have won strong support in both the U.S. and France.

In an interview with Armenpress, Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian indicated that a decision to tackle the thorny issue of the 1915 killings could form part of an accord. But he made clear that this should not stand in the way of an agreement. Armenia, he said, "is willing to establish full-fledged relations with Turkey without any preconditions. And we have an impression that the Turkish authorities also wish to move forward and normalize the relations between the two countries." The U.S. and France, co-chairs with Russia of the so-called Minsk Group aimed at resolving the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, also welcomed the thaw between Turkey and Armenia. In a statement, the French foreign ministry said France "will continue its efforts towards a balanced and negotiated settlement" in the territorial dispute with Azerbaijan. U.S. envoy Matthew Bryza said he expected rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia to help the mediation efforts. "We believe that these two processes will develop separately, in parallel with one another, perhaps at different paces," he said.

Developments will be closely watched in European countries, which are pinning hopes on Azerbaijan as a key source of future gas supplies through the proposed Nabucco pipeline that would run through Turkey and which is intended to reduce Europe's energy dependence on Russia. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian are due to meet in Prague on May 7 to discuss the issue.

Azerbaijan's Caspian offshore Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli fields supply oil to Europe through the $3.6 billion, 1,092-mile, 1 million-barrel-per-day Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which became operational in May 1996. Because of the dispute with Armenia, however, the pipeline was forced to take a lengthy detour, adding substantially to cost and construction time.

Possible future routes transiting Armenia would be shorter and less costly. Amid the continuing territorial dispute, however, Azerbaijan has hinted that it may look towards Russia instead for its gas exports. In March, its state energy firm SOCAR agreed to start talks with Russia's Gazprom on the possible sale from 2010 of Azerbaijani gas for export to Europe.

The election victory in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus of the National Unity Party (UBP) raises questions about the future course of negotiations for a reunification of the divided island. But Turkish Cypriot politicians say they are confident that the reunification talks will continue.

Turnout in the April 19 elections was 81 percent, with the UBP winning 44 percent of the vote and 26 seats in the 50-seat parliament, overtaking the ruling Republican Turks' Party (CTP), which won 29 percent of the vote and 15 seats. In previous elections four years ago, the CTP had taken 44.51 percent of the vote, winning 24 seats in Parliament.

Analysts said the UBP victory reflected frustration and disappointment among Turkish Cypriots at the darkening economic situation and the failures of the EU and the international community to keep their promises over Cyprus.

The island has been divided since 1974, when Turkey intervened after a coup attempt by Greek Cypriots seeking to annex the island to Greece. In a 2004 referendum, Greek Cypriots rejected a European Union-backed plan to unify the island, while Turkish Cypriots accepted it. The legally awkward result was entry of the Greek-led Republic of Cyprus into the EU as representative of the whole island while the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was subjected to a continuing EU economic blockade. Turkey's refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus has become a major stumbling block in its negotiations with the EU.

In a post-election statement, UBP leader Derviş Eroğlu pledged to support continued talks. In the past, however, the UBP has advocated a two-state settlement for Cyprus, rather than the federal model discussed by Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot President Demetris Christofias in talks which began last year.

Commenting on the election outcome, President Talat said he was confident that reunification talks would stay on track. The Turkish population of the island had a well-known desire for a solution, he said. "As long as the UBP carries the people's vision for a solution there will be no problem." The UBP's clear victory was a significant development, he added. "For the first time in a long time a political party has achieved a majority in the parliament and has achieved government alone. "

NATIONALIST VICTORY IN NORTHERN CYPRUS ELECTIONS RAISES QUERIES OVER REUNIFICATION TALKS

Mr. Eroğlu said continuing the negotiations was one of his party's priorities. "We'll act in unity for progress in negotiations by also thoroughly discussing Cypriot policies with motherland Turkey. Nobody has the right to brand the UBP as against an agreement," he said. Mr. Eroğlu was prime minister of northern Cyprus from 1985 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2004.

Among the many factors to be taken into account in reunification negotiations are issues relating to the laws of property ownership. These have become more pressing since an April 28 ruling by the European Union's top court that a Greek Cypriot can reclaim land once owned by his family.

In a case that has implications for other foreign investors, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg said that a judgment from the Republic of Cyprus in the south ordering a U.K. couple to demolish their house must be recognized by EU countries even if it concerns land in the northern part of the island.

In 2004, a Cypriot court ordered Linda and David Orams, who had invested 160,000 pounds in a holiday home in Lapithos, northern Cyprus, to tear down their property, return the land and pay damages to Meletis Apostolides, an architect whose Greek Cypriot family originally owned the land. Apostolides applied to have the judgment recognized in the U.K., which would allow him to seize the couple's assets. He argued that since the U.K. and Cyprus were both EU member nations, the ruling was enforceable across the region.

There is no defence for plotting to overthrow a democratically elected government. But the recent arrests of dozens of people, including academics, intellectuals and civil society leaders in the context of investigations into what is said to be a clandestine terrorist organization plotting to overthrow the government, raise serious questions.

Supporters of democracy cannot help wondering: is Ergenekon being used by Turkey's government as a weapon to intimidate critics and stifle opposition?

Those targeted under the latest crackdown included academics and leaders of civil society organisations involved in social work. Tijen Mergen, who leads the "Daddy, Send me to School" project backed by Milliyet newspaper for educating young girls in eastern Turkey, was held in custody. Police spent seven hours searching the home of 74-year-old Prof.

Türkan Saylan, a long time supporter of human rights and Turkey's EU accession process and founder and chair of the ÇYDD -- Association in Support of Contemporary Life, who is now fighting advanced cancer.

Following police raids at a number of ÇYDD offices, Prof. Saylan said she and the ÇYDD had been targeted because of their position against the March 1, 2003 motion presented to Parliament to allow Turkish troops to join the American invasion of Iraq and permit American forces to use Turkish territory. She also criticised the government for failing to implement judiciary reform laws adopted under the EU process, a view also expressed by the Istanbul Bar Association.

THE ONGOING ERGENEKON INVESTIGATION: DEFENDING DEMOCRACY IN TURKEY, OR INTIMIDATING OPPONENTS?

Others detained in simultaneous police operations in 18 cities on April 13 as part of the ongoing investigation included Başkent University Rector Mehmet Haberal, the deputy chairman of Atatürk Thought Association (ADD), Mustafa Yurtkuran, former Ondokuz Mayıs University Rector Ferit Bernay and İnönü University Rector Fatih Hilmioğlu and ÇYDD Chairwoman Türkan Saylan.

Anyone backing a coup attempt should be tried, judged and punished. But extending the Ergenekon investigations to people of such calibre without obvious evidence of their involvement in the plot undermines confidence in Turkey's political system and judiciary. Investigations must be conducted with full respect for human rights and the rule of law.

There can be no justification for turning a legal case into a campaign for political revenge.

http://www.turkishdigest.com/2009/04/denktash-brushes-off-ergenekon-cyprus.html 
http://bianet.org/english/kategori/english/113767/ergenekons-relations-in-cyprus-surfaces-before-elections 
http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=11392957&indx=hur
 
"The United States strongly supports Turkey's bid to become a member of the European Union," U.S. President Barack Obama declared in a speech to the Turkish Parliament on 6 April. Despite criticism from France and Germany to h repeated statements of support for Turkey's EU candidacy during his European tour last month, the U.S. president was unequivocal.

"We speak not as members of the EU, but as close friends of both Turkey and Europe. Turkey has been a resolute ally and a responsible partner in trans-Atlantic and European institutions," he stated in Ankara. "Turkey is bound to Europe by more than the bridges over the Bosporus. Centuries of shared history, culture, and commerce bring you together. Europe gains by the diversity of ethnicity, tradition and faith — it is not diminished by it. And Turkish membership would broaden and strengthen Europe's foundation once more."

Now it's up to Turkey to respond to such encouragement. While former U.S. president George W. Bush sought to promote Turkey as a moderate Islamic country, his Democrat successor has emphasised Turkey's importance as part of the Western world. Turkey clearly has an important role to play in its immediate neighbourhood, and President Obama made clear that he is looking forward to support from Turkey in sending more troops to Afghanistan, in facilitating dialogue with Iran and in reducing the presence of foreign troops in Iraq. But progress in Turkey's democratisation process will be the key to its hopes to join the EU.

OBAMA BACKS TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION BID, BUT PROGRESS IN DEMOCRATISATION WILL BE KEY

Full text of speech in Parliament
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gkyWk2MK7xeDw2b1jPhFS6KsvPegD97D32BO0 
President Obama Speaks in Turkey (First Appearance in Muslim Country as President) (5:37 minutes summary)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXH8I3YqXQg 
Press conference with H.E. President Gül
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKHZEnBqjj4&NR=1 

Turkey marked some significant diplomatic points in discussions at a NATO summit on 3-4 April that led to its acceptance of former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Secretary General of NATO from August 1.

In standing up to pressures from France and Germany by emphasizing its concerns about possible negative perceptions of Mr. Rasmussen's appointment in the Muslim world, Turkey was able to give European countries a taste of their own medicine with regard to mingling religion with politics.

Mr. Rasmussen was criticized in Turkey and other Muslim countries for his refusal to condemn a Danish newspaper's publication in 2006 of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

The cartoons led to widespread protest and anti-European demonstrations in Muslim countries. Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member state, argued that Mr. Rasmussen's appointment could become a propaganda gift to the Taliban, causing problems for NATO in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Turkey has also been angered by Denmark's unwillingness to suspend broadcasts by Denmark-based Roj TV station, a pro-Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) channel, to operate from its soil. The outlawed PKK is listed as a terrorist group by both the European Union and the US.

In the event, Turkey allowed the appointment of Mr. Rasmussen to go ahead after winning assurances from U.S. President Barack Obama that he would guarantee a compromise under which Turkey is to get a newly-created post of deputy secretary general of NATO and several Turkish officers inside the alliance's military command.

In an interview with the Financial Times, however, Turkish President Abdullah Gül said criticisms of Turkey's position were very dangerous. "We did not engage in blackmail nor did we have an irrational request," he said. "We acted in a rational, logical and modern way, with the compromise which is a European culture."

Within NATO, Turkey is one of the few countries willing to strengthen its presence in Afghanistan. Turkey will soon take over the command of NATO forces in Kabul, the third time it has done so, and Mr. Gül said this could entail an "important" increase in troop numbers as well as civilian activities.

TURKEYFLEXESITSDIPLOMATICMUSCLESOVERNATOAPPOINTMENT

In a reference to Greek Cypriots who have blocked some areas of Turkey's EU accession talks, Mr. Gül noted that "even in the EU, some countries whose contributions are smaller may be blocking or vetoing some strategic issues which can be extremely important."

Turkey has prevented NATO from signing formal security arrangements with the EU in retaliation for the block by Greek Cypriots on Turkish involvement in the EU defence structure.

"This problem might hijack huge issues … It's a problem that the EU and NATO have not been having healthy and full cooperation - but it's not because of us," Mr. Gül told the Financial Times. "I think there should be a gesture to us not from us… We make a more strategic contribution and more sacrifice. Not others."

EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner were among those who expressed irritation at Turkey's stance, arguing that it went against European values of free speech. "This will surely raise questions amongst EU member states and citizens on how well Turkey has internalised such European values as freedom of expression," Mr. Rehn told Finnish state broadcaster YLE.

German politicians also criticized Turkey. "Whoever puts Islamic propaganda above the future of NATO and our European system of values has nothing to look for in the EU," Alexander Dobrint, the secretary general of the Christian Social Union told German journalists.

The controversy produced some positive results, however. Following confirmation of his appointment, Mr. Rasmussen promised to reach out to the Muslim world and co-operate closely with Turkey. He also promised Denmark would investigate Roj TV. "If Roj TV is involved in any terrorist activities, we will do everything to shut it down," he said.

Later, Mr. Rasmussen announced that he had chosen Denmark's ambassador to Turkey, Jesper Vahr, as his chief of staff. In 2005-2006, Mr. Vahr participated in a working group at NATO headquarters on reforms undertaken by the alliance.

In a televised speech on 30 April, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the summit outcome demonstrated that Turkey had moved into a more influential position in international affairs. "No one should doubt that Turkey will maintain its pro-solution and pro-peace stance in its foreign policies with the same steadfastness. We are determined to tackle the problems posed to us by the past and by the global conditions," he said.

Turkish business association TÜSİAD said the NATO summit "demonstrated once again the historical significance of Turkey in NATO as well as its increasing role in the region. Turkey's growing importance within the framework of NATO's expanding responsibilities will surely contribute to the EU's aspirations of becoming a global actor."

Turkey's efforts to push forward its bid for European Union membership are being weakened by a clumsy approach to EU lobbying, according to a researcher who has been analysing Turkish-EU interaction in Brussels.

In an environment where lobbying is fundamental to all aspects of the EU process, "the Turks do it differently," says Bilge Fırat, a Turkish anthropologist who is preparing a doctoral thesis for a U.S. university. "They don't follow the rules of the game."

Since February 2008, Ms. Fırat has been researching how Turkey is setting about winning support in Brussels for its EU membership bid. For a thesis to be presented at the State University of New York at Binghamton, she has interviewed diplomats, members of the European Parliament, officials at the European Commission and a range of other stakeholders. She has spent time as an intern at the European Economic and Social Committee and as a volunteer at Brussels-based TR PLUS – Centre for Turkey in Europe, worked with Turkish NGOs, attended sessions at the European Parliament, and listened to visiting Turkish politicians.

Her conclusion after more than a year of observation and analysis: poor communications are raising questions on the EU side, not just about Turkey's commitment to the accession process, but about its ability to sustain effective membership if ever it does succeed in joining the EU. More effective lobbying is needed, she warns, if Turkey's accession bid is to succeed.

At a time when serious difficulties have already surfaced in Turkey's campaign for EU membership, such observations pose a challenge to Turkish politicians and businesses. At the root of the problem, Ms. Fırat suggests, is not just a lack of awareness about what is needed for effective lobbying, but a failure to appreciate the need to make an effort to convince.

"The main problem is that the Turks consider themselves as pure equals, not just to France and Germany but to the Union as a whole," she says. "They have this kind of equality complex: they would never talk in an environment where they are not equals. If you consider yourself as a partner, you have less interest in explaining yourself or introducing yourself."

Specific cultural features relating to Turkey's very strong state tradition may be partly to blame. "The Turkish system is very hierarchical and opaque," Ms. Fırat notes. At a typical meeting with European Commission officials, "the Turkish delegation may be composed of 20 people. But only one person speaks. The Turks sit on one side of the table and the Europeans on the other side, and there is a virtual wall between them."

The result is barriers to communication and a growing sense of frustration within the European Commission, where officials are used to mingling freely with their counterparts from candidate countries in order to take their mandate forward. In the case of Turkey, things don't work the same way. "Some Commission officials told me that they don't know who their counterparts are. This makes it difficult for them to do their job. They don't know how to deal with Turkey because they can't deal with it in the same way as any other candidate country."

The problem is not confined to official events. Ms. Fırat reports similar communications blockages between Turkish business and civil society groupings and potential interlocutors on the EU side. "Despite all the money spent, there is not much serious lobbying effort. Activities are not complementary: they may even compete."

Turkish organisations in Brussels often fail to coordinate their activities in order to achieve maximum public impact. Bodies with specific mandates stray into other areas. Networking is neglected, and rivalries between individuals and organisations lead to unproductive competition.

"They like to show off what they are doing to their directors when they visit (from Turkey), but they are not accessible or transparent. They are not communicating to the outside," says Ms. Fırat. "There are lots of events (to promote Turkey) but the outcome often doesn't go beyond visibility."

Signs that the Turkish authorities may finally be waking up to the challenge came in March when Turkey's new chief EU negotiator, Egemen Bağış, urged civil society representatives to cooperate in support of Turkish accession, he quoted a Turkish saying: "One Turk is worth the world." To this, he then added, jokingly: "But if two Turks come together they will eat each other." Instead of wasting efforts, he urged cooperation in a joint endeavour.