And what of their treatment of women or their use of torture? In 2006 the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that a Turkish national could not be extradited back because there was a risk of torture. Neither is Turkey prepared to accept responsibility for past wrongs. How about the genocide of over a million Armenians during the First World War or the deaths of 30,000 Kurds in more recent campaigns?. The Kurds are still denied fundamental rights by Ankara.
Even without its human rights record, official support for the accession would still fly in the face of much European opinion. In 2005, the average support among EU citizens for Turkish membership was around 35%.[1] Polls in France and Germany have shown that less than one quarter of people support the bid, while in Austria, opposition has been as high as 82%.[2][3] Nevertheless, with their typical disregard for democracy, most EU member governments are officially supportive of Turkish accession. Yet even some of the Union’s greatest advocates are set against it. Former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing is among them, telling Le Monde that Turkish membership would be the “end of Europe”, and that those supporting the membership bid were “the adversaries of the European Union”. Can he mean the EU commission? He continued, “Its capital is not in Europe, 95% of its people live outside Europe, it is not a European country”. Resistance is so strong in France and Austria that referendums have been promised on the issue. But we know from the recent Dutch and French experience the respect such things are accorded in Brussels.Turkey as a nation is much poorer than most European countries. Accession would inevitably see a repeat of the migration rush that followed the joining of many former Eastern Bloc countries. Cheap labour could threaten wages, while Turkey would need a huge amount of EU funding to bring its infrastructure into line with other member-states. British taxes would help pay for this. 20% of Turkey’s population is below the poverty line; that is a huge financial commitment.
Lastly, but perhaps most important of all is the unresolved issue of Cyprus. Invaded by Turkey in 1974, this European Union member is not even recognised by the aggressors from Asia Minor. Turkey still refuses not only to open up its ports to Cypriot vessels in defiance of EU demands but to even recognise the state. Simultaneously it demands recognition for its own self-declared province on the north side of the island, born of an illegal occupation.
In the short term, all may be well. President Sarkozy is a well-known opponent of the plans. In his own words, “Turkey has no place inside the European Union”. Angela Merkel’s Germany is also hostile. If the French and Austrian governments were, in a surprise move, to honour their commitment to referenda then the prospect of Turkish entry would be destroyed. But the EU has a habit of deathbed revivals. A privileged partnership with Turkey makes sense. But the EU is more than a market place in the long term. It is a union founded on common cultures and histories. Sarkozy perceptively said “Enlarging Europe with no limit risks destroying European political union”. There is a part of me that starts to warm to the Turkish membership bid!
In the frank words of Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, the Turks would be joining an “Empire”, an empire they are neither ready nor right to join.
Edward Leigh MP
[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4298408.stm
[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4298408.stm
[3]http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBysubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=68266&story_id=8808134
[4] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2420697.stm
The tensions within Turkey between those who strenuously emphasize her secularity and those who are seeking a full Islamic state, and the historical facts on human rights clearly demonstrate that Turkey is not ready for admittance into the EU. There may be strategic reasons for continuing and maintaining alliance with Turkey, especially in military cooperation, but fundamental differences between Christian and Islamic values should not be ignored as potentially irreconcilable and politically fractious in the context of the EU. That latter point is why Turkey seeks to suppress Islamist tendencies in the first place.
What polls do not capture are individual and private reasons for not supporting Turkey’s accession. The agenda for international political union should not ignore or be confused with issues of religious compatibility. Having experienced at first-hand socio-cultural diversity where deep friendships, genuine respect and acceptance are the rule rather than the exception, it is a privilege to be able to highlight religious and political issues concerning Turkey’s membership of the EU – the criteria for admission require careful understanding and application.
Even for a one paragraph treatment, you’re viewpoint on Cyprus is spectacularly one-sided. There is opporobrium enough in that sorry situation to share on both sides.
You conveniently seem to forget that Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus occurred after EOKA-B, a gang of murdering ethnic cleansers, seized power in a military coup, and after Britain failed in its roles as the guarantor power tasked with defending the rights of Cypriots of both communities.
You also ignore the fact that in 2004, Turkish Cypriots voted to reunify the country but were rebuffed by their Greek neighbours; but for the cheap opportunism of the AKEL party in opposing the Annan Plan, a united, independent Cyprus might well exist today.
But when one is looking for a convenient excuse for Turk-bashing, I suppose facts aren’t really necessary, are they?
If Turkey wish to be seriously considered for membership to the EU, then let them converto to Christianity. This would show their commitment to western values. But the EU won’t even broach that subject, of course, because we are now ruled by atheists who think all religions are equally bad. And the Turks won’t even contemplate conversion because when satan thinks he can win, he’s unlikely to change direction.