Mediterranean Programme - [09/13/2007]

CIDOB takes part in the 6th Pan-European Conference on International Relations in Turin

Eduard Soler, the coordinator of the CIDOB Foundation's Mediterranean Programme, claimed in Turin that the European Union approachesreligious issues in different ways in itsrelations with Turkey and with the Arab countries of the Mediterranean. Speaking at the 6th Pan-European Conference on International Relations, which was held by the European Consortium for Political Research from 12 to 15 September, Soler presented a study on the EU's posture with respect to the religious factor in its relations with Turkey and the countries of the Mediterranean.

In the section dedicated to the role of the Middle East in International Relations, Soler demonstrated that EU policy shows very different characteristics in the two cases; he illustrated his claim with references to aspects such as religious freedom, the perception of European interests, discourses on shared identity and, particularly, the EU's posture towards Islamist movements.

Soler argued that in the area of Euro-Mediterranean relations, religious radicalism has been viewed as one of the main threats to regional security. It was not until recently that calls have been heard for the EU to enter into dialogue with Islamist movements that reject the use of violence. In contrast, with respect to Turkey's candidacy for EU membership, one of the Ottoman country's greatest attractions for the main European leaders is the fact that it is both a Muslim country and a democracy. Furthermore, the current ruling party – the AKP, which has Islamist roots – is considered to be a committed actor in the process of consolidating democracy and in Turkey's bid to join the EU.

The coordinator of the CIDOB Foundation's Mediterranean Programme shared the panel with the renowned academics Peter Burgess, a member of PRIO in Oslo, Ole Waever, from the University of Copenhagen, Pinar Bilgin, from BilkentUniversity in Ankara and Mustafa Kemal Pasha from AberdeenUniversity. The members of the panel, which focused on the study of the religious factor, concluded that these issues are subjected to a process of securitisation and that the central point of the debate was not so much the theological implications as the political ones.

>> See the programme for the 6th Pan-European Conference on International Relations (pdf 603kB)

>> See Eduard Soler's speech (pdf 263kB)