Morocco, Casablanca - The Pope is absolutely right to say he supports accession to the EU. It is a crucial move to help dispel the negative image he gave himself after his speech on violence and Islam.
The Pope's image in the Muslim world is no trivial matter. In order to neutralize the self-fulfilling prophecy of the clash of civilizations theory, the most prominent Christian personality must not be perceived as the leader of the crusading West. The Pope's bad image plays into the hands of extremists in the Muslim world.
The Pope is also right to think that Turkey would be a good addition to the EU. Turkey's recent political evolution has demonstrated that when the right conditions are there, Islamists can democratically access power without turning their country into a theocracy. The jury is still out on whether a strong secular-minded military has been the main driver behind this evolution. It is also possible the prospect of an EU accession induced key players in Turkey to adopt strategies that led to the peaceful and democratic accession of Islamists to government.
Turkey could help reveal the path for much-wanted democratic evolution in many Muslim countries. The prospect of EU accession has played an important part in the recent positive political evolution in Turkey. EU accession seems to have given the right set of incentives to Turkish players. Despite the peculiarities of each country, there are many parameters here that apply to other Muslim nations. And when the Pope opened the door of the EU to Turkey, he weakened the Muslim proponents of a clash of civilization.
But alas, some developments are troubling. What seems to be a pretext for delaying Turkey's accession -- its relations with Cyprus -- has cast a shadow on the entire process. More worrisome is the fact that France and Germany are most reluctant to allow Turkey to join the Union. The behavior of these two countries' governments reflects the growing hostility of their respective public opinions. The reason for this change is certainly the negative image of Islam in the west. This is a vicious circle where increasingly hostile western public opinion feeds growing Turkish and Muslim distrust of the west. This is the right moment for a European leader to show their leadership skills in stating their strong will to let Turkey in.
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