Pandora’s Box
However you slice it, the result of the referendum in the United Kingdom to exit the European Union is the start of another era in Europe. After the era of princedoms, there came the era of nations. After the era of nations, comes the era of racism.
I noticed that after the United Kingdom, racists cries have become louder in Germany and France. They peaked with the fear of refugees.
I am more familiar with Germany. There is a rise in racist political parties and extremely nationalist movements. In the last elections, there was a nationalist political party which was able to increase its votes with anti-refugee tendencies.
These developments that shook German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s seat have actually reached a level where they are challenging the existence of the EU.
When you added to all these, the hostility against Turkey and against Islam, then the Pandora’s Box of Europe has been opened.
This is the Pandora’s Box that Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek referred to and it has been opened. Now, Germany and France are shaking with the nationalist tsunami spreading from the United Kingdom. Will it continue? It seems as if it will continue…
In charge of enlargement or breakup
A change of title may be necessary for the Office of the EU Commissioner for Enlargements. It may, for instance, be called the “Commissioner to Prevent Segregation.”
This is the meaning of the separation tweet of the Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli, who posted on Twitter that Britain choosing to leave the EU marked the beginning of the “fragmentation” of the union. “The fragmentation process of the EU has started. Britain is the first to abandon ship,” Canikli wrote on June 24.
Well, because in Germany, from Düsseldorf to Munich, in every street, in every pub, the question asked is this: Are we going to feed those in Greece who lie around? With Merkel’s efforts, this question and this reaction were moderated; the idea of the EU was again in a balance.
But, now, “terror and the fear of refugees” have been rekindled with Pandora’s Box opened in the United Kingdom.
What will Turkey do?
Turkey will indeed not distance itself from the EU norms. But it will also not allow the EU to treat itself like a colony.
The economic dimension of the new situation seems as if a general crisis atmosphere is being built up that also covers Turkey; however, those that take initiative and that have taken measures will survive. The recent economic measures are important for Turkey also in terms of this.
Regarding foreign capital flow, the measures that will speed up the inflow of foreign capital into Turkey have been discussed. I hope these measures will yield good results and draw investments.
It was just the right time to introduce this arrangement that aims to make Turkey a center of attraction for foreign capital at a time of global fluctuations. It was correct.
A top executive of a major group called me the other day to say, “We know that the measures package to be submitted to parliament will have huge benefits. However, there is another matter… President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was saying, at every opportunity, that Istanbul was to become a financial center. In this context, if certain institutional advantages for banks are provided in this finance center in Istanbul, it would be attractive for world banking and the finance sector. Moreover, it would be permanent.”
Of course, there is also this: While Turkey is making this important leap with new economic measures, on the other hand, it will be able to reverse the “bad image” that some are trying to attach to it because investments mean new horizons.