Let Turkey into the EU Now!
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – JAMES DELINGPOLE: Poor Turks! Of all the peoples I've encountered in my travels around the world, the Turks really have got to be among the kindest, most generous and welcoming. (My other top candidate in that category would be the Sudanese.) So it really saddens me to read of the civil unrest which has been plaguing Turkey this last week. Someone suggested to me that this is the sort of behaviour which shows exactly why Turkey should never be admitted to the EU. Eh? This rioting isn't the result of natural savages casting off the threads of civilisation; it's the result of civilised, educated, cosmopolitan Turks rising up against the authoritarianism of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regime. » | James Delingpole | Monday, June 03, 2013

My comment:

Delingpole obviously has a death wish for Western civilisation. Rarely have I read such bunkum in a mainstream newspaper as this. His reasoning is unsound, to say the least. And anyone who agrees with Bojo has got to be suspect. I trust Bojo's opinions on almost nothing. In any case, Bojo has Turkish blood coursing through his veins; so he is prejudiced.

I want Western civilisation to survive. I actually like liberal democracy. Islam is anathema to democracy and freedom. It therefore makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to allow Turkey into the EU. Only someone naïve would think otherwise. Haven't we had enough Islamisation of the West, Europe as it is? – @ Mark

This comment also appears here

EU-Beitrittsdebatte: Türkei drängt Deutschland zum Einlenken

SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Auf Knien" werde ein Kanzler einst nach Ankara robben, um die Türkei zur EU-Mitgliedschaft zu bewegen, sagt der Brüsseler Kommissar Günther Oettinger. Die Türken freut's, Berlin ist verstimmt. Zwei Tage vor Angela Merkels Besuch drängt Ankara Deutschland zu Zugeständnissen auf dem Weg nach Europa.

Diese Vorlage ließ sich die türkische Presse nicht entgehen. Am Donnerstag prangt der deutsche EU-Kommissar Günther Oettinger auf fast allen Titelseiten. "Auf Knien", so hatte Angela Merkels Parteifreund gewettet, werde im kommenden Jahrzehnt "ein deutscher Kanzler oder Kanzlerin mit dem Kollegen aus Paris nach Ankara robben, um die Türkei zu bitten, Freunde kommt zu uns".

Eine solche Demutsgeste käme natürlich an in der stolzen Türkei, die sich seit Jahrzehnten hingehalten fühlt, wenn es um eine Beitrittsperspektive in die Europäische Union geht. Kein Wunder also, dass Oettinger nun genüsslich gelobt wird für seine Prognose, die in Europa für Irritationen sorgte. Er wisse zwar nicht, ob die Europäer eines Tages "gekrochen kommen werden, oder ob sie auf die Knie sinken", um die Türkei um einen EU-Beitritt zu bitten, sagt der türkische EU-Minister Egemen Bagis. "Aber wenn es eine Sache gibt, die ich sicher weiß, ist es, dass sie ganz bestimmt nachgeben werden", sagte Bagis über die Europäische Union. » | Von Jürgen Gottschlich, Istanbul | Donnerstag, 21. Februar 2013

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: 'They Will Give In': Turkey Pressures Germany on EU Accession – A European commissioner's remark that Germany and France would one day come crawling "on their knees" begging Turkey to join the EU has miffed Berlin and thrilled Ankara. As German Chancellor Merkel prepares for a visit to Turkey, the country is pushing for concessions. » | By Jürgen Gottschlich in Istanbul | -- with wire reports | Thursday, February 21, 2013

Turkey Given Reassurance by Germany on Talks
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany met with Turkey’s prime minister here on Wednesday and pledged that the European Union would continue to pursue talks “in good faith” over Turkey’s accession to the bloc, despite disagreements that have proved challenging for both sides.

“The E.U. is an honest negotiating partner,” Ms. Merkel said. “These negotiations will continue irrespective of the questions that we have to clarify.”

Her pledge came after the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, warned that the European Union stood in danger of losing Turkey if it was not granted membership by 2023.

“No other country has been kept waiting, knocking on the door of the E.U., for such a long time,” Mr. Erdogan told a gathering in Berlin late Tuesday, hours after he opened his country’s new embassy to Germany. An ever stronger economic and political force in the region, Turkey has been in negotiations to join the bloc since 1995, and some analysts have worried that a frustrated Turkey might shift from its Western focus to building stronger ties with Moscow and Tehran. » | Melissa Eddy and Chris Cottrell | Wednesday, October 31, 2012

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Erdogan Visit to Berlin Betrays Tensions: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he wants Turkey to be a full member of the EU by 2023. Chancellor Angela Merkel assured him the talks would be "honest.' Their meeting in Berlin once again showed that relations between Turkey and Germany have become complicated. ¶ At the end of the news conference Angela Merkel narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. Her face seemed to say: What's he talking about? Next to her, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was talking about Cyprus. It was a mistake, he said, to allow "South Cyprus" into the European Union, and he added that the chancellor shared that view. » | With additional reporting by Christoph Sydow | Wednesday, October 31, 2012

EU-Beitritt: "Türkei wird Europas kulturelle Basis ändern"
WELT ONLINE: Der türkische Außenminister sagt Europa eine Tendenz "zu mehr Religion" voraus. Europa werde sich auf eine vielseitigere Zukunft zubewegen.

Ahmet Davutoglu ist seit Mai 2009 türkischer Außenminister. Bild: Welt Online
Der türkische Außenminister Ahmet Davutoglu ist davon überzeugt, dass ein türkischer EU-Beitritt die „zivilisatorischen Grundlagen“ Europas verändern wird: Weg von einer „rigide westlichen Identität“ und hin zu mehr Religion und „Monotheismus“.

Davutoglu wurde von der neuen, englischsprachigen Zeitschrift „Turkish Review“ mit den Worten zitiert, Europa werde dank des türkischen EU-Beitritts und dank der neuen türkischen Öffnung gegenüber der muslimischen Welt, „mit sehr alten Zivilisationen in Austausch treten“. Dieser Austausch werde das als Zivilisation viel jüngere Europa dazu bewegen „seine eigenen zivilisatorischen Grundlagen infrage zu stellen“.

Als Beispiel nannte Davutoglu den Minarett-Streit. „Heute sind manche europäischen Länder gegen Minarette eingestellt. Der Grund ist das sehr starke und rigide westliche Selbstverständnis. Aber Städte mit vielfältigeren kulturellen Bauwerken produzieren pluralistischere Bürger“. Europa werde sich auf eine solche vielseitigere Zukunft zubewegen, meinte Davutoglu, aber es werde zugleich religiöser, und das europäische Christentum selbst werde in gewisser Weise islamischer, nämlich „monotheistischer“ werden: „Meine persönliche Voraussage ist, dass neue christliche Bewegungen mit stärker monotheistischen Tendenzen aufblühen werden“, heißt es in dem Interview. >>> Von Boris Kálnoky | Donnerstag, 28. Oktober 2010

FM: Turkey’s EU Entry to Change Civilizational Premises
TODAY’S ZAMAN: Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, largely responsible for engineering Turkish foreign policy, has told the Turkish Review that the European Union, which will interact with ancient civilizations through Turkey’s entry into the bloc, will begin to question its civilization premises as a result of this interaction.

“Europe will experience what Turkey is passing through today in an extensive manner. Turkey will be an inoculation to Europe and I believe a very fertile intellectual atmosphere will be born. Of course, the civilizational premises will be opened to questioning. My personal prediction is that new Christian movements with stronger monotheistic tendencies will flourish,” Davutoğlu said in an interview with the Turkish Review, a bimonthly journal whose first issue was released this week.

Davutoğlu gave an exclusive interview to the journal’s editor-in-chief, Kerim Balcı, who is also a columnist for Today’s Zaman. Elaborating on his statements, Davutoğlu used the example of some European countries being against the building of minarets. >>> | Thursday, October 28, 2010

European Far-right Parties Want Referendum on Turkey in EU
AFP: VIENNA — Europe's far-right parties want an EU-wide referendum on Turkey's plans to join the current 27-nation bloc, the leader of Austria's populist Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian Strache, said Saturday.

Strache, who had invited right-wing parties from Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Slovakia and Sweden to a two-day meeting in the Austrian capital, told a news conference that the parties believed Turkey had no place in Europe and ordinary citizens should be given a say in the matter.

Europe would be "straying down the completely wrong path" if it were to admit "non-European countries" into the European Union, the far-right party leader said.

"That would be the end of the European Union. It would be the beginning of a Euro-Asian-African Union, which goes completely against the project of peace in Europe and must therefore not be allowed," Strache said. >>> AFP | Saturday, October 23, 2010

KRONE: Volksbegehren gegen EU-Beitritt der Türkei geplant: Europas Rechtsparteien planen ein Bürgerbegehren gegen den EU-Beitritt der Türkei. Dies kündigte FPÖ-Chef Heinz-Christian Strache am Samstag nach einem zweitägigen Treffen von Parteienvertretern in Wien an. Die Freiheitlichen und ihre europäischen Gleichgesinnten wollen sich, so Strache, künftig besser koordinieren, um "Fehlentwicklungen in der Europapolitik" entgegenzuwirken. >>> | Samstag, 23. Oktober 2010

As David Cameron Calls for Turkey to Join the EU, Peter Hitchins on the Disturbing Picture of Growing Repression at the Heart of ‘Eurabia’
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: Among the bayonet-like minarets of ancient Istanbul, an East wind is blowing. It will chill us all... says The Mail On Sunday columnist in the week David Cameron calls for Turkey to join the EU

Down a glum, dark back alley in Istanbul, I found a sinister sight. In a workshop two stern and bearded men were bent over sheets and patches of very black cloth, their sewing-machines whirring urgently.

I was plainly unwelcome and they objected to the very idea of being photographed. I quickly saw why. They were making dark robes and masks for women to wear. They looked to me as if they longed for the day when every woman in sight was clad in their workmanship.

They knew the women would wear them, because one day, not far off, they would have to. These robes would be, literally, a 'must-have' for the women of Turkey.

Those who think of Turkey as a relaxed holiday destination, or as a Westernised Nato member more or less 'on our side' need to revise their view.

And that very much includes our Prime Minister, David Cameron, who last week joined in the fashionable chorus urging Turkish membership of the European Union. Mr Cameron plainly hasn't been properly briefed.

Leave aside the fact that such a step would allow millions of Turks to live and work in Britain, and give us - as EU members - a common border with Syria and Iraq. Mr Cameron really ought to realise that the new Islamist Turkey he so ignorantly praises is much more interested in making friends with Iran than it is in joining the EU. And it is becoming less free and less democratic by the day.

I would say there is a strong chance that we will soon lose Turkey to the Islamic world, much as we lost Iran to the ayatollahs 30 years ago. And there is not much we can do about it - least of all the daft scheme to include this nation in the EU.

Panic-mongering? Well, perhaps. But I would rather monger a bit of panic now than ignore what I saw.

I will come in a moment to the bizarre alleged plot against the Turkish state, which has swept dozens of government opponents into prison in dawn raids.

But first let us take a stroll round the Istanbul district of Fatih. It is noon, and the rival calls to prayer of two mosques are wavering in the baking, humid air.

Not far away is a gigantic Palestinian flag draped over the side of a building. Nearly opposite, a group of pale, intense men in turbans loiter on a street corner whispering into their mobile phones. Where am I? The flag suggests Gaza. The whispering men bring to mind Peshawar or some other Taliban zone.

Or am I in Saudi Arabia? For round the corner comes a phalanx of veiled women, under the vigilant eyes of a bossy man in a prayer cap. There are several grades of these women. First there are the wholly shrouded, their downcast eyes glimpsed through a slot, imprisoned in shapelessness. Most disturbing for me - because I have been to Iran - are those in chadors exactly like those commanded by the ayatollahs in Tehran. There is something particularly harsh about the inverted triangle through which their pale and sombre faces peer.

With them come the women they call 'Tight-heads' - 'Sikmabash' in Turkish. These are a new feature of Istanbul since I was last here a few years ago, in evidence all over this enormous city.

They are mostly young and often attractive. But they have swathed their heads tightly in voluminous, brightly coloured scarves. Their lower limbs are covered by long dresses or trousers, and over this, in the oppressive heat, they wear thin raincoats. Such outfits are available in a successful chain of shops called Tekbir, which means 'God is great'.

Covering up the female sex is big business here now. The owner of an independent Islamic clothes shop complains to me that trade isn't as good as it used to be because he now faces so much competition. He notes that more and more of his clients are young women, rather than conservative rural grandmas. Continue reading and comment >>> Peter Hitchins in Istanbul | Sunday, August 01, 2010

My essays on Turkey joining the UK:

Turkey in the EU >>> Mark Alexander | Friday, September 30, 2005

More Reasons Why Turkey and the EU Should Not Join in Union! >>> Mark Alexander | Saturday, October 01, 2010

Cameron Backs Turkey EU Membership *
SKY NEWS: On his first official visit to Turkey David Cameron has pledged to support the country's bid for EU membership.



* Yes, Mr Cameron, and it makes us angry that we are being led by weak and ill-informed politicians like you who are not prepared to safeguard our Judeo-Christian civilization from the onslaught of Islam! And believe me, it will be one huge onslaught if Turkey is allowed into the EU. It’s bad enough as things stand. You people do nothing to stop the destruction of Western values. That makes us angry!

It is to be hoped that Germany and France will continue to thwart the efforts of the arrogant British establishment who are working assiduously to bring Turkey into the EU against the wishes of the majority of the British people. The Foreign Office and politicians like you, Mr Cameron, should be working FOR the people, not AGAINST them, since after all is said and done, it’s the taxpayer that keeps you people in employment.

So a little less arrogance and a little more listening to the wishes of the electorate would go a hell of a long way. – © Mark

Weep for Britain: 1940 This Is Not
THE SPECTATOR: When David Cameron became Britain’s Prime Minister, I warned that he would turn out to be even worse than Labour on the related issues of Israel and the global threat from Islamism to Britain and the west. This was because Cameron had no knowledge of or interest in foreign affairs, and so was always likely merely to reflect the most politically expedient views he encountered – which, given the current poisonous attitude within the British establishment and intelligentsia, were likely to push him into appeasing Britain’s mortal enemies in the Islamic world and dumping on Israel, Britain’s strategic ally in that great struggle.

But even I did not foresee just how cynical Cameron would turn out to be -- and how dangerous therefore to the British national interest. Today’s truly shocking and quite astoundingly stupid speech in Turkey has now laid bare the fathomless shallowness and frightening ignorance and idiocy of Britain’s new Prime Minister.

Declaring himself a fervent supporter of Turkey’s bid to join the EU, Cameron declared that those who opposed this bid fell into one of three categories: protectionists; those who believed wrongly in a ‘clash of civilisations’ between east and west, whereas in fact

Turkey can be a great unifier, because instead of choosing between East and West, Turkey has chosen both;

or

those who wilfully misunderstand Islam

because they

... see no difference between real Islam and the distorted version peddled by the extremists.

Astonishingly, Cameron thus totally ignored the fact that Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, is no secular Ataturk but an Islamic extremist; and as a result Turkey is changing from a secular state and strategic ally of the west into an Islamist tyranny and a new strategic enemy of the west. Here is what Turkish political economy professor Dani Rodrik wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal (£):

I no longer recognize Turkey, the country where I was raised and spend most of my time when I am not teaching in the U.S. It wasn't so long ago that the country seemed to be taking significant strides in the direction of human rights and democracy... But more recently, the same government has been responsible for a politics of deception, dirty tricks, fear, and intimidation... It's clear now that Turkey is no longer the liberalizing, emerging democracy under the AKP that it was only a few years ago. It's time the U.S. and Europe stopped treating it as such—both for their own sakes, and for the sake of the Turkish people.

Into which category of prejudice would Cameron place the horrified Professor Rodrik – Turkish protectionist, Turkish culture warrior or Turkish Islamophobe?

Or what about the alliances Erdogan has been forging with Islamic terror regimes such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran – and not forgetting his warm overtures to Russia? Is this what Cameron regards as evidence that Turkey is playing the role of ‘great unifier’ between east and west? Continue reading and comment >>> Melanie Phillips | Tuesday, July 27, 2010

David Cameron Urges European Union to Drop 'Prejudice' Against Turkey
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron will today demand an end to the anti-Muslim 'prejudice' which he claims is blocking Turkey's membership of the European Union.

In a speech in the Turkish capital of Ankara, he will tell of his "anger" that a country which is a member of the Nato coalition fighting in Afghanistan should be asked to: "guard the camp but not be allowed to sit inside the tent".

He will claim that those who seek to block the incorporation of a Muslim nation into the 27-member EU are misguided and prejudiced. His words are likely to be construed as criticism of France and Germany, which both oppose the country's membership.

The Prime Minister has embarked on a four-day trip which will also take him to India where, accompanied by a large trade delegation and several members of the Cabinet, he will seek to forge a new relationship based on trade with the emerging Asian powerhouse rather than aid.

In Ankara, he will hold talks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish premier, before the two leaders sign an accord setting out plans for future co-operation.

Addressing the EU membership which Britain has supported for years along with nations including Italy and Spain, but which has stalled amid opposition from Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he will tell the Turks: "I will remain your strongest possible advocate for EU membership and for greater influence at the top table of European diplomacy.

"Together, I want us to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels."

Mr Cameron will attack: "those who wilfully misunderstand Islam" and who "see no difference between real Islam and the distorted version of the extremists." >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent, in Ankara | Tuesday, July 27, 2010



SKY NEWS: Cameron Will Fight To Let Turkey Join EU >>> David Williams, Sky News Online | Tuesday, July 27, 2010

FINANCIAL TIMES: Cameron backs Turkey joining EU: David Cameron will express his “anger” on Tuesday at Turkey’s European Union membership bid being “frustrated” by the bloc’s leaders, as he heaps praise on an emerging power increasingly at odds with Britain, the US and Europe on the world stage.

The UK prime minister will spare no flattery on his first visit to Ankara, as he commits to “fight” for Turkey’s place at the European top table in a speech that largely glosses over differences between the two countries on Iran and Gaza. >>> Alex Barker and Delphine Strauss in Ankara | Monday, July 26, 2010

MAIL ONLINE: Turkey must join EU, says Cameron: 'Those who are against are playing on fears of Islam' >>> Jason Groves | Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Cameron is showing clearly enough what a greenhorn in politics he is. He’s as green as his face is fresh! Moreover, he’s a fool! What does Cameron know about the religion of Islam? What does Cameron understand about Muslims’ goals and aspirations? Has he ever lived in a Muslim country? Has he ever worked alongside Muslims? Has he ever left his comfortable cocoon of plenty? The man is clearly not up to the job. He’s had his chance; it’s already time for him to be replaced with a real Conservative – one who speaks for the people.

It is my firm belief that the people of this once great country do not want Turkey to be allowed into the EU, because they know full well that it will lead to further Islamization: To further Islamization of Europe; and to further Islamization of the United Kingdom. And frankly, they’ve already had enough of both!

I don’t know whether this is the “Brokeback coalition” or not, as David Davis has suggested. But one thing I do know: If Cameron goes on like this, he’ll break the back of Western civilization!

Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have got it right about Turkey’s accession to the EU. Its accession will be nothing short of a disaster for both Europe and the United Kingdom.

By the way, Cameron, are you B. Hussein Obama’s marionette? – © Mark

LE FIGARO: UE: Cameron pour l'entrée de la Turquie : Le premier ministre britannique David Cameron a exprimé sa "colère" face aux entraves à l'adhésion de la Turquie à l'Union européenne, lors d'une visite officielle aujourd'hui à Ankara. >>> AFP | Mardi 27 Juillet 2010

Turkey Goes Cool on Joining the European Union as It Falls for the Lure of the East
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: As Europe's top diplomat prepares to travel to Turkey, Colin Freeman finds a country not entirely convinced about their need to join the EU.

Turkish men make a nationalist gesture with their hands as they chant anti-EU slogans during a protest in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: The Telegraph
Sipping a lunchtime latte amid the gleaming skyscrapers of Istanbul's financial district, banker Mehmet Canayaz debated whether the European Union should admit Turkey. The prognosis, he admitted, was not good: a dynamic, forward-looking region would end up shackled to an economy with severe debt, financial instability, and an uncompetitive workforce. Best for Turkey, perhaps, to steer clear of the chaotic Brussels club altogether.

"If we don't join, it will be Europe's problem, not ours," said Mr Canayaz, 25, who was relieved to be watching the recent Euro-zone crash from the outside rather than the inside.

"If they do let us in one day, fine. But in coming years, it will be them that needs us, more than us needing them. Their economy isn't as competitive as it once was."

The issue of whether the EU should be allowed to join Turkey, rather than Turkey being allowed to join the EU, is not the way the Eurocrats of Brussels have often chosen to phrase it since the stalled membership talks formally began in 1987.

But when the EU's Foreign Affairs High Representative, Baroness Ashton, arrives in Ankara for fresh accession talks this week, she may well find no shortage of Turks asking the same question the same way round as Mr Canayaz.

Fed up with being rebuffed by France and Germany, proud of their successful economy, and increasingly keen to court their fellow Muslim neighbours to the East, a growing number of Turkey's 73 million citizens are now wondering whether EU membership is quite so important as it once seemed. While nearly three quarters of Turks supported the idea in 2004, some polls less than half doing so now.

Among those whom Baroness Ashton will meet on Tuesday is the man most closely associated with Turkey's re-assessment of its outside interests, foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu. A key figure in the AKP party, the moderate Islamist movement that has ruled Turkey for the last eight years, he is widely seen as the prime mover in his country's cooling off towards the West. >>> Colin Freeman in Istanbul | Sunday, July 11, 2010

Should Turkey Join the EU?
TELEGRAPH - DEBATE: Europeans are divided over Turkey's proposed membership of the EU. It is a largely Muslim nation, while the 27 other states are not. And while Turkey's huge economic potential is attractive, its human rights record falls well short of EU standards. Should this record bar it from joining the EU? Join the debate >>>

Merkel Tells Turkey EU Talks 'Open-ended'
BREITBART: German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Turkey Monday that its membership talks with the European Union did not guarantee accession and urged it to grant trade privileges to EU-member Cyprus.

"The rules of the game have changed" since Turkey first applied to become a member of the bloc five decades ago, Merkel said through an interpreter after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"The (accession) negotiations are an open-ended process. We should now pursue this open-ended process," she added, suggesting that Turkey's integration with the bloc does not have to be full membership. >>> AFP | Monday, March 29, 2010

Germany's Westerwelle Embarks on Tour of Turkey, Gulf
AFP: BERLIN — Germany's foreign minister embarked Wednesday on a tour of Turkey and the Gulf to promote efforts to revive the Middle East peace process and weigh security risks emanating from Yemen and Iran.

Guido Westerwelle, who is head of the pro-business Free Democrats and vice-chancellor in Angela Merkel's centre-right government, flew to Ankara with a delegation including several executives scouting investment opportunities.

Westerwelle's spokesman said the five-day tour, which will also take in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, would focus on the Iranian nuclear programme, Afghanistan, and the threat posed by Al-Qaeda operatives based in Yemen.

"The issues will also include the situation in Middle East, the state of the peace process and how we can manage, together with our partners in the region, to bring about a new start in the Middle East peace process," Andreas Peschke said amid a swirl of regional diplomacy aimed at restarting talks.

Westerwelle was to join his counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu for dinner in the Turkish capital ahead of official meetings Thursday with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other government ministers.

Germany boasts a three-million-strong minority of Turkish origin -- the largest outside Turkey.

Merkel's conservatives are deeply sceptical about Ankara's bid to join the European Union and would prefer to grant Turkey a "privileged partnership" with the bloc. Westerwelle is seen as more supportive of its long-term accession. >>> | Wednesday, January 06, 2010

EU Blow for Turkey
THE AGE: Berlin – TURKEY'S hopes of joining the European Union have received a blow after Germany gave warning that it was ready to join France and Italy in outright opposition to Turkish membership.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has telephoned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tell him that German foreign policy is under review.

Dr Merkel's Christian Democrats and the Free Democrats, which are in coalition talks after Sunday's election, are both hostile to Turkey's accession to the EU.

With almost 3 million ethnic Turks living in Germany, politicians fear EU membership would bring a new flood of immigrants. [Source: The Age] | Thursday, October 01, 2009

Will Turkey's EU Membership Dream Come True?
THE TELEGRAPH: Bringing Turkey into the fold raises profound questions about the very nature of European identity, reports David Blair in Istanbul.

False dawn? The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul at sunrise. More than 70 per cent of Turks favoured EU membership, but that total has now dropped to 48 per cent. Photo: The Telegraph
Burying the grievances bequeathed by history lies at the heart of the European ideal. The enmities of living memory, particularly the fratricidal struggle between France and Germany, no longer haunt the European Union, yet one far older and deeper fear still lurks behind a vital question about its future.

Five centuries ago, Europe lived in dread of Turkey’s expansion up the Danube valley, with Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire’s longest-serving and most successful Sultan, dispatching his armies from Istanbul to conquer Hungary and besiege Vienna.

Today, Turkey is a secular democracy, a longstanding member of Nato, an adherent of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Council of Europe, and a country firmly anchored in the West. Suleiman built a magnificent mosque that still dominates Istanbul’s skyline, but the streets around his creation are not relics of Byzantium – they look and feel like any in Europe’s Mediterranean heartland.

Many ordinary Turks proclaim themselves to be European and their country’s Western outlook is woven into the very fabric of the secular republic created by Ataturk in 1923. Accordingly, Turkey’s government harbours a cherished ambition to join the European Union. Formal accession talks designed to achieve this aim began in 2005, with Britain the most prominent supporter of Turkey’s bid for membership.

Yet bringing Turkey into the fold raises profound questions about the very nature of European identity and the boundaries of its civilisation. It also stirs deeply ingrained folk memories of that advance along the Danube.

Many leaders, particularly President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, make no secret of their unease. Since winning power in 2007, Mr Sarkozy has hardened France’s position on Turkey’s accession into an outright “no”.

Earlier this year, he urged European leaders to stop “lying” about Turkey’s chances of achieving full membership and declared that he would not “tell French schoolchildren that the borders of Europe extend to Syria and Iraq”. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, quietly agrees with him, leaving Gordon Brown as the only leader of Europe’s “big three” to favour Turkey’s application.

Lying behind these concerns is one unspoken fact about Turkey’s possible accession: if it succeeds, the EU’s second most populous member state would be 97 per cent Muslim. At present, Turkey has 72 million people, but this will rise to almost 100 million by 2050. Letting Turkey join would create the near certainty that, eventually, the biggest EU member state would be overwhelmingly Muslim. Leaders who oppose Turkey’s ambition tend to tiptoe around this fact, while dropping hints that it is not far from their minds. Most candid was Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the former French president who was chosen to oversee the drafting of the EU’s stillborn constitution.

Allowing Turkey to join “would be the end of the European Union”, he declared in 2002, because the country has a “different culture, a different approach, a different way of life”. >>> | Thursday, September 24, 2009

Turkey in the EU >>> Mark Alexander | Friday, September 30, 2005

More Reasons Why Turkey Should Not Join the Union! >>> Mark Alexander | Saturday, October 01, 2005

Artist Flees Turkey after Brush with Leader
THE INDEPENDENT: An artist who was cleared of mocking Turkey's prime minister by portraying him as a dog in a collage has fled the country after hearing his acquittal has been overturned.

Michael Dickinson, 59, returned home to County Durham after hearing a late-night TV report last week saying the acquittal had been quashed and a new trial was pending.

"I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. I was told by a woman, whose husband had seen it, and I said 'He must be dreaming'," he said.

"I caught a plane out as soon as I could, leaving most of my possessions behind, including my books, furnishings and computer.

"I was sad to leave after 23 years in Turkey, but I don't fancy another taste of Turkish hospitality in incarceration." >>> Rod Minchin, Press Association | Tuesday, June 30, 2009

EURACTIV: EU Tells Turkey: No 'Cruise Control' on Accession

As leading EU countries are advocating alternatives to full EU membership for Turkey, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week that Ankara should speed up reform instead of breeding unrealistic expectations during its accession process.

"No one should be mistaken: There is no cruise control in the accession negotiations. Each step forward requires hard work and intense preparations by the candidates for EU membership," Rehn said, speaking at forum held in Brussels on Friday (26 June).

The enlargement commissioner acknowledged progress made by Turkey in the accession process, but stressed that no such advance was visible in the last six months.

He stressed the "pressing need" to reform the legal and constitutional framework governing the closure of political parties, as well of guaranteeing freedom of expression and the independence and pluralism of the media.

Recent reports by the European Commission and the Parliament have warned of a continuous slowdown in the reform process in Turkey (EurActiv 12/02/09). >>> | Monday, June 29, 2009

Turkey in the European Union: A Bridge Too Far

Sarkozy Talks Turkey

EU Puts Turkey on Notice (April 2008)

Sweden’s Greens: Opposition to Turkey Due to Islamophobia
Ms Ruwaida: Opposition to Turkey's accession to the EU has nothing to do with Islamophobia; rather, it has all to do with common sense! – ©Mark

TODAY’S ZAMAN: Some European countries such as Germany and France oppose Turkey's membership in the European Union because of their Islamopohobic stance, a senior member of Sweden's Green Party has said.

"What they do is xenophobic," said Yvonne Ruwaida, a member of the executive board of the Green Party (Miljöpartiet de Gröna), during a visit to Steg för Framtiden” (A step for the future), an association established by Turkish entrepreneurs, in Stockholm on Saturday. She was referring to objections to Turkey's membership raised by a small number of politicians in Sweden, as well as in France and Germany. "This is Islamophobia. They fear that the whole of Europe will be invaded by Islam and are therefore trying to stop Turkish accession," she said. "It is very sad that such things are being discussed. Membership of a country should be assessed on the basis of objective criteria."

Sweden, a firm supporter of Turkey's accession to the EU, is preparing to take over the EU's rotating presidency in June. The Swedish Green Party is one of the most consistent supporters of Turkey in the country. Mehmet Kaplan, son of a Turkish immigrant family, is in the leadership of the party. >>> Ramazan Kerpeten, Stockholm | Monday, May 11, 2009