Empire of Languages: EU's Multilingualism Policy and the Turkish Language

Abstract

Despite its crucial role in sustaining better integration, multilingualism is not discussed as widely as the other topics of multiculturalism within the context of the European Union (EU) enlargement. The accession process requires Turkey to take notice of the opportunities and shortcomings as well as the challenges of European multilingualism and to communicate the relevance of the Turkish language to the completeness of European multiculturalism. The present article aims to assess the EU language policy in light of the future imperative of incorporating Turkish into Europe's linguistic family by referring to the EU's laws, norms, and values as well as NGOs' reports and opinion papers.

Notes

Lucia Kubosova, “Barroso Defends Romania's New Multilingualism Job,” EUObserver, November 15, 2006. http://euobserver.com/9/22866/?rk=1.

Ibid.

“Commission of the European Communities, Final Report of High Level Group on Multilingualism”. http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/doc/multireport_en.pdf, 2008, p. 22.

Ibid., p. 6.

Abram de Swaan, Words of the World: The Global Language System (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2001), p. 144.

“EU Language Policy”. http://ec.europe.eu/education/languages/eu-langauge-policy/index_en.htm.

OJB 17, 6.10 1958, 385. Phoebus Athanassiou, “The Application of Multilingualism in the European Union Context,” Legal Working Papers Series, No. 2, March 2006. http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/scplps/ecblwp2.pdf.

“Final Report. High Level Group on Multilingualism,” p. 6.

Ibid.

Council Conclusions of May 22, 2008 on Multilingualism, Official Journal C 140. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2008:140:0014:01:EN:HTML.

“Commission Communication on Multilingualism: Tapping the Full Potential of Languages in Europe”. http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/news/news2853_en.htm.

“Final Report. High Level Group on Multilingualism.” pp. 5 and 6.

Agnieszka Doczekalska, “Drafting and Interpretation of EU Law-Paradoxes of Legal Multilingualism,” in Gunther Grewendorf and Monika Rathert (eds.), Formal Linguistics and Law (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2009), p. 341.

Ibid.

“EU Translation Policy ‘Here to Stay’,” February 25, 2008. http://www.euractiv.com/en/culture/eu-translation-policy-stay/article-170516.

Ibid.

Stephan Sberro, “Could-and Should-English Win the ‘Language War’ in Regional Integration? NAFTA and EU Experience”. Jean Monnet Working Paper, No. 13, 2009. http://www.centers.law.nyu.edu/jeanmonnet/papers/09/091301, p. 37.

Ibid., p. 36.

Christina Julios, “Towards a European Language Policy,” in Mary Farrell, Stefano Fella and Michael Newman (eds.), European Integration in the 21st Century. Unity in Diversity? (London: Sage, 2002), p. 185.

“Multilingualism: An Asset for Europe and a Shared Commitment,” Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, September 18, 2008. http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/pdf/com/2008_056_en.pdf, p. 10.

“A Rewarding Challenge. How the Multiplicity of Languages Could Strengthen Europe,” Proposals from the Group of Intellectuals for Intercultural Dialogue set up at the initiative of the European Commission, Brussels, 2008. http://ec.europea.eu/education/policies/lang/doc/maalouf/report_en.pdf, p. 4.

“Commission Wants Fewer Anglophone Spokesperson,” Euractiv, January 22, 2010. http://www.euractiv.com/en/future-eu/commission-wants-fewer-anglophone-spokespersons/article-189155.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Doczekalska (2009), p. 366.

“EU Translation Policy Here to Stay.”

Sue Wright, Community and Communication: The Role of Language in Nation-State Building and European Integration (Clevendon: Multilingual Ltd., 2000), p. 120.

Julios (2002), p. 190.

Julios (2002), pp. 184, 186 and 191.

Leonard Orban, “The Benefits and Challenges of Linguistic Diversity in Europe,” October 23, 2009. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/09/495&format=HTML&aged=1&language=EN&guiLanguage=en.

“Framework Strategy for Multilingualism”. http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/eu-language-policy/doc99_en.htm.

Julios (2002), p. 187.

“Multilingualism: An Asset for Europe and a Shared Commitment,” 10. It should also be noted that the LINGUA program was supposed to evolve eventually to a scheme of “protecting the less widely used and less widely taught languages.” Its influence has unfortunately remained limited basically to learning English. Sberro (2009), p. 33. The Erasmus Action, which funds student mobility grants, enjoys a relative success nonetheless.

“A Rewarding Challenge How the Multiplicity of Languages could Strengthen Europe. Proposals from the Group of Intellectuals for Intercultural Dialogue Set Up at the Initiative of the European Commission,” Brussels, 2008. http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/d20oc/maalouf/report_en.pdf, pp. 8, 11, 22 and 23.

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Orban (2009).

“CILT, Effects on the European Economy of Shortages of Foreign Language Skills in Enterprise 2007”. http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/key/studies_en.html.

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Ibid., p. 7.

“Languages Mean Business,” pp. 7 and 11.

Ibid., pp. 7, 10 and 11.

Julios (2002), p. 195.

Asharq al Awsat, “Sarkozy: ‘A L'Ecole J'ai Appris que la Turquie est un Pays Asiatique’,” March 30, 2005. www.info-turc.org/article1355.html.

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Prior to Cyprus's adhesion to the EU, the Annan Plan was taken to referenda concurrently on both sides of the island. Whereas 75 percent of the Greek Cypriot voters said “No,” 65 percent of the Turkish Cypriot voters said “Yes.” The fact that their “Yes” vote for an EU-supported UN plan has not substantially eased up the sanctions on them has caused significant resentment among Turkish Cypriots. A 2007 survey showed that 65 percent of Turkish Cypriots now opted for two separate states and not a united Cyprus. See Mehmet Hasgüler and Murat Tüzünkan, “Cyprus at a Crossroads,” Middle East Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 4 (Fall 2009), pp. 63–71.

Doczekalska (2009), p. 342.

“Multilingualism: An Asset for Europe and a Shared Commitment,” p. 4.

Euripides L. Evrivades, “Cyprus in the European Union: Prospects for Reunification, Peace with Turkey, and Regional Stability,” Mediterranean Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Summer 2005), p. 7.

Atilla Arda, “Turkey's European Dream Starts with the Turkish Language,” May 19, 2006. http://www.agoravox.com/news/europe/article/turkey-s-european-dream-starts-4835.

Olga Demetriou, “Catalysis, Catachresis: The EU's Impact on the Cyprus Conflict” in Thomas Diez, Mathias Albert and Stephen Stetter (eds.), The European Union and Border Conflicts: The Power of Integration and Association (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), p. 81.

Atilla Arda, “Turkish Language Enters Euro Area,” January 24, 2008. http://www.lawofemu.info/blog/2008/01/turkish-languag.html.

Quoted in “Vassiliou Vows to Boost Student Mobility, Job Skills,” Euractiv, January 15, 2010. http://www.euractiv.com/en/priorities/vassiliou-vows-boost-student-mobility-job-skills/article-188956.

“A Rewarding Challenge,” p. 12.

“A Rewarding Challenge,” p. 3.

“A New Framework Strategy for Multilingualism” COM (2005) 596 quoted in “Multilingualism: An Asset for Europe and a Shared Commitment,” p. 3.

Orban (2009).

Wright (2002), p. 120.

“Die Türkei Gehört zu Europa,” Welt am Sonntag, January 24, 2010. http://www.welt.de/die-welt/politik/article5960004/Die-Tuerkei-gehoert-zu-Europa.html.

“Sarrazin Yine Türklere Çattı,” Deutche Welle Türkçe, March 10, 2010. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5338669,00.html.

Orban (2009).

“A Rewarding Challenge,” p. 20.

Also in Bulgaria 8 percent of the citizens name Turkish as their mother tongue. “Europeans and Their Languages, November–December 2005,” February 2006. http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/pdf/doc31_en.pdf, pp. 5 and 6.

Kate Connolly, “Angela Merkel Declares Death of German Multiculturalism,” Guardian, October 17, 2010. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/17/angela-merkel-germany-multiculturalism-failures.

“Europeans and Their Languages.”

Quoted in “Language Use in the EU,” Euractiv, November 27, 2009. http://www.euractiv.com/en/culture/language-use-eu/article-137663.

Ibid.

Aurélien Portuese, “Law and Economics of the European Multilingualism,” Social Science Research Network, July 28, 2009. http://ssrn.com/abstract=1517424, p. 7.

Official Journal C 140, 06/06/2008 P. 0014 – 0015. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2008:140:0014:01:EN:HTML.

“Turkey No Longer Lost in Translation,” Euractiv, November 19, 2010. http://euractiv.com/en/enlargement/turkey-no-longer-lost-translation-news-499861.

Quoted in ibid. p. 7.

Simon Roughneen, “After BRIC Comes MIST, the Acronym Turkey Would Certainly Welcome,” The Guardian, February 1, 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/feb/01/emerging-economies-turkey-jim-oneill.

“Languages Mean Business,” p. 14.

“Languages Mean Business,” p. 17.

“Europeans Confused about Turkey Accession,” Euractiv, January 27, 2010. http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/europeans-confused-turkey-accession/article-189253#.

Orban (2009).

Quoted in “Europeans Fear Mass Turkish Immigration: Turkey in the EU- What the Public Thinks,” Euractiv, August 20, 2009. http://www.euractiv.com/en/priorities/turkey-eu-public-thinks/article-171187.

Levent Özgür, Tuna Güngör and Fikret Gürgen, “Adaptive Anti-Spam Filtering for Agglutinative Languages: A Special Case for Turkish,” Pattern Recognition Letters, Vol. 25 (2004), pp. 1819–1831.

“Languages Mean Business,” p. 11.

For Latin fever in Finland, please see “The Website and Visual Image for Finland's EU Presidency Unveiled,” May 31, 2006. http://www.vn.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/tiedote/fi.jsp?oid=156528 and Nicholas Watt, “Finns Turn Jargon of Unio Europaea into Poetry with Weekly Latin Readings,” July 3, 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jul/03/eu.politics.

“Language Use in the EU.”

Quoted in “Turkey in EU-What the Public Thinks.”

Philippe Cayla, “La Journée du Multilingualisme,” Le Monde, May 4, 2010. http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2010/05/04/la-journee-du-multilingualisme-par-philippe-cayla_1346228_3232.html.