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Tad Schnaufer University of FloridaMarch 22, 2010

Meeting with Mehmet Alpaslan Saygin: Secretary General of UETDMeeting Date: March 10, 2010

Brussels, Belgium

I want to first thank Mr. Mehmet Saygin for his time and hospitality. Mr. Sayginpresented our group with a different side of the Turkish relations with the EU. He described thecultural stance of Turks in the EU and Brussels. He continued with want his organization standsfor and their activity in the EU to further the position of European Turks. Mr. Sayginintroduces five core objectives of Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD). Throughthese objectives he was able to enlighten us of a whole new spectrum of issues with Turks andthe EU. The five objectives are to promote a new social identity, achieve political participation,promote activities around intercultural dialogue, an essential interlocutor in the media, anddecision on the EU membership of Turkey.

Mr. Saygin started with the new social identity for Turks in Europe. Presented was theidea that Turks in Europe are Euro-Turks. This idea is similar to identity of African-Americans.They are as much Turkish as European. Mr. Saygin described how he was born in Brussels andconsidered himself Belgian and Turkish. He stated that it is hard for Europeans to except thatpeople can be both. Mr. Saygin said that most Belgians call him Turkish and do not acknowledgethe European side of him. This is what his organization is trying to change. People can be bothTurkish and European or in his case Turkish and Belgian. I agree with his argument and believethat in the USA there comes a stronger understanding of this. Also Mr. Saygin described howEuro-Turks should have more participation in political decisions. He makes the point that theEuropeans want to integrate the Turkish population, while UETD wants to see the Turksparticipate more than integrate. In addition, UETD wants to see more intercultural dialogue.They have fostered this idea by setting up forums, concerts, debates, and conferences to discussthe different issues and raise awareness about the Turks situation in Europe. Also with theseevents UETD hopes to spread the realization that different cultures can learn from each other.Furthermore, UETD wants to see more interlocutors in the media about Turks and Turkishaccessions. This would raise awareness and their hopes for support for the Turks situation. Thisis stress on Belgian Turks because UETD is based in Belgium. Finally Mr. Saygin describes thatEU membership for Turkey would be beneficial for both parties. In this he states that the EU willgain plurality within Europe while there would be a positive effect toward the democratization ofTurkey.

In Conclusion, I see UETD as a positive effort in Europe. It seems that the Turkssituation in Europe can be compared to the Mexican population in the USA. The Americans

accuse the Mexican of stealing jobs, just as the European population accuses the Turks ofstealing jobs. The more that UETD can enlighten Europe to the broader idea of Euro-Turks andgather support for their cause the better Europe will be. It was interesting to see how EUmembership of Turkey affects the culture and population. This presentation offered the view ofthe common Turk as compare to the other meetings that focused on economics and politics. Thismeeting completed the experience in learning every shade of the issue from top to bottom.

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