A COUPLE of months ago, the European Union unveiled its first impression of what the proposed "Euro" bank notes will be like. The new currency has a map on it, but not one which is to everybody's taste. As soon as it appeared, there were complaints from all over Europe that some of the details were not quite right. Some of the strongest objections came from Turkey because we were literally left off the map.
I wasn't quite as taken aback as everyone else because it seemed to me that, though they probably didn't realise it, the Euro-designers were actually making a very subtle but an important point which is actually pro-Turkish.
Without Turkey, Europe just doesn't look right and in the long run it probably won't work.
The idea of Turkey as an active player in the life of Europe is a relatively new one for people in late 20th century Europe. Because Turkey industrialised much later than most of the countries on the north side of the Mediterranean, it was for many years just a bystander.
But historically Turkey has often been a vigorous participant in the life of our continent, especially at the height of the Renaissance. In the sixteenth century there was a sort of diplomatic "axis" in European politics between Francois I of France and Suleyman the Magnificent.
Even today, the influence of Turkey on daily life in countries like Ireland is much more pervasive than most people usually realise. Turkish textiles and textile designs, Turkish cuisine and sweet-meats, Turkish holidays archaeology and history are all around.
What's more, if you go back in history, you will find that ever since Neolithic times - when farming techniques began in Turkey and then spread gradually from there across Europe - Turkey has been an integral part in the life of the continent. King Midas, Croesus, the Gordian Knot, Helen of Troy, Santa Claus and of course St Paul all came from present-day Turkey - a cultural and religious bridge between east and west, north and south.
Trade between Turkey and western Europe is nothing new either. If you had visited Ankara in the 17th century, you would have found a quarter of the city where families of Scottish,
English, and Dutch merchants lived. That went on all the way through until the French Revolution broke the trade links, leaving everyone poorer.
Though Turkey lies at the south-east end of Europe, history and geography have always combined to make it very important to the rest of the continent. As a result, the movement towards European unity cannot and should not by-pass Turkey, as it would be doing serious damage to the long-term interests of everyone.
The economic arguments for including Turkey are formidable by themselves. Few people realise that Turkey has a larger, more developed, and more dynamic economy than all the eastern European candidates for EU membership. For over a decade, Turkey has been the main textiles supplier of the EU as well as of white and brown goods and iron and steel. Also, it is an increasingly important regional economic power.
This is because Turkey is a large country with a young population of 65 million people and abundant natural resources. It has a vigorous free market economy which has industrialised at almost breakneck speed over the last 20 years.
In this regard, there are great opportunities for European investors. Because we are so close to markets in Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East, we also enjoy big comparative advantages. In Istanbul we have one of the great cities of the European continent, the hub of the business and cultural life of an entire region, and a place with a really exciting and diverse cultural scene.
The routes for energy supplies from the Middle East and the former Soviet Union both run through Turkey. New routes now being planned will make this outlet to the Mediterranean even more important.
At the start of 1996, Turkey and the European Union launched a customs union. It had been planned for over a quarter of a century. The customs union will benefit both sides in the long run as our economies become more interdependent, but in the early months it has opened up a big new market for European companies.
For example, Irish trade with Turkey rose by 43 per cent in 1996. Irish exports to Turkey went up 30 per cent while Turkish exports to Ireland rose 13 per cent.
The common interests of Turkey and Europe are not just economic. Turkey is Europe's southern bulwark. That was especially true in the Cold War but the facts of geography being what they are, it will always remain so. Turkey provides indispensable protection and stability to the other countries of Europe.
If that blank area on the Euromap was a reality in strategic terms, think how precarious the western world's situation would be in the Middle East in general and in the Gulf in particular.
But none of these things, in my view, is Turkey's biggest asset. Its main asset both for itself and for Europe are its people warm, affectionate, humorous, energetic, adaptable, industrious. Naturally being a Turk myself I have to admit to being biased on this point, but I think most foreign visitors to Turkey tend to incline to my view. That is why so many of them, having visited our country once, come back again and again.
On the basis of all this, it is surely obvious that an ever-closer partnership between us is in everyone's interests. But not everyone would agree. The nearer Turkey and the rest of the EU get together, the louder become the voices of protest from some, quarters. For instance, just by writing this article, I know that I am going to attract a shoal of anti-Turkish letters to the editor of this paper.
The underlying message of some of those letter-writers is certain to be that the European Union and European public opinion should ostracise and isolate Turkey. I find it very difficult to see how anyone who genuinely wants to see European values spreading and growing can subscribe to such a message. The "founding fathers of the European Union, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman, did not proceed in this spirit. If they had done so, the movement to reconciliation and unity in Europe would have died on the launch pad.
The truth of the matter is that the anti-Turkish movement in western Europe is very shortsighted and does not even work in the interests of the people it purports to be defending. Of course much of it is based on ancient stereotypes and hatreds, unworthy of the people who indulge them. It is also based on profound ignorance and misapprehension.
I sometimes get letters referring to "the current regime in Turkey". Do the writers even know or care that Turkey, following the principles of the great Kemal Ataturk, is a secular parliamentary democracy and that while we have all shades of opinion, the overwhelming majority of our people are fiercely patriotic? It is a serious mistake to forget that.
Lining up against Turkey will do harm, not good. It will exacerbate conflicts and cause opportunities to be lost. Turkey remains set on the westward course, charted for it by Ataturk. It is not going to allow itself to be steered in a different direction. Extremist religious radical movements do not have the backing of the country as a whole and they will not be allowed to reverse the achievements of the last three-quarters of a century.
But progress will be much easier if the rest of Europe stands alongside Turkey. For 46 years Turkey has stood with Europe in NATO, fighting to bring freedom and democracy to eastern Europe. In the past 10 years, together we have achieved one of the great triumphs of the century. In this context, the EU enlargement is really the celebration of this new Europe. Now is the time for inclusion of Turkey, the oldest standing associate member.
Integration of Turkey with the rest of Europe will produce profound changes and adaptations in Turkish society. That will benefit us, just as it has benefited so many other countries, and it will benefit the rest of Europe by creating stability and prosperity on its southeastern flank. Whatever the designers of the Euro notes may think, Turkey is an important reality on the map and it has a right to its place in Europe.