Tad Schnaufer University of Florida

March 22, 2010

Meeting with Mehmet Alpaslan Saygin: Secretary General of UETD

Meeting Date: March 10, 2010
Brussels, Belgium

I want to first thank Mr. Mehmet Saygin for his time and hospitality. Mr. Saygin
presented our group with a different side of the Turkish relations with the EU. He described the
cultural stance of Turks in the EU and Brussels. He continued with want his organization stands
for and their activity in the EU to further the position of “European Turks.” Mr. Saygin
introduces five core objectives of Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD). Through
these objectives he was able to enlighten us of a whole new spectrum of issues with Turks and
the 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, and
decision on the EU membership of Turkey.

Mr. Saygin started with the new social identity for Turks in Europe. Presented was the
idea 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 and
considered himself Belgian and Turkish. He stated that it is hard for Europeans to except that
people can be both. Mr. Saygin said that most Belgians call him Turkish and do not acknowledge
the European side of him. This is what his organization is trying to change. People can be both
Turkish and European or in his case Turkish and Belgian. I agree with his argument and believe
that in the USA there comes a stronger understanding of this. Also Mr. Saygin described how
Euro-Turks should have more participation in political decisions. He makes the point that the
Europeans want to integrate the Turkish population, while UETD wants to see the Turks
participate 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 discuss
the different issues and raise awareness about the Turks situation in Europe. Also with these
events 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 Turkish
accessions. This would raise awareness and their hopes for support for the Turks situation. This
is stress on Belgian Turks because UETD is based in Belgium. Finally Mr. Saygin describes that
EU membership for Turkey would be beneficial for both parties. In this he states that the EU will
gain plurality within Europe while there would be a positive effect toward the democratization of
Turkey.

In Conclusion, I see UETD as a positive effort in Europe. It seems that the Turks
situation 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 of
stealing jobs. The more that UETD can enlighten Europe to the broader idea of Euro-Turks and
gather support for their cause the better Europe will be. It was interesting to see how EU
membership of Turkey affects the culture and population. This presentation offered the view of
the common Turk as compare to the other meetings that focused on economics and politics. This
meeting completed the experience in learning every shade of the issue from top to bottom.