"The Perils of Patriotism
Nationalism is on the rise in Turkey. Will it threaten accession talks with the European Union?
By ANDREW PURVIS
Sunday, May. 15, 2005
Tears glisten in Sencan Bayramoglu's eyes. The retired schoolteacher is describing how her son was one of 30,000 victims of the 15-year-long Kurdish uprising that ended with the capture and imprisonment of rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999. Bayramoglu's tears are not of grief, but of anger. Last week, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled that, in order to comply with European law, Turkey must give Ocalan a new trial. Her fury is directed not only at Ocalan, whom she blames for her son's death, but also at the European institutions that demand Turkey conform to their standards as a precondition for joining the European Union. "We can't just do everything the Europeans say!" she protests. "They behave as if we are some sort of banana republic. They demean us so much. Whenever I get tired, I tell myself I am speaking on my son's behalf and raise my voice even higher." "
More:TIME Europe Magazine: The Perils of Patriotism -- May. 23, 2005