Sunset to the west

Turkey’s more-off-than-on European Union accession program is moving less and less into a meeting of minds than a series of brief encounters between the immovable and the irresistible. At the beginning of last year, President Abdullah Gul, once a staunch opponent of membership, boldly announced that 2008 would be the year of the EU. That’s far from his sentiments just five years earlier when he opposed joining this “Christian club,” remarking: “Look at a European city, and then look at Istanbul. It’s not a Christian city.” If the president has a new message for 2009, it might be that the dialogue of the deaf between Brussels and Ankara over the past 12 months has silenced the enthusiasts on each side. A report last month by the International Crisis Group (ICG), an NGO dedicated to resolving conflict, listed recommendations for both sides to salvage the process. In line with the group’s