Wednesday, June 15, 2005
On the back-burner
One of the other likely consequences of the "no" votes in the Dutch and French referenda is that Turkey's membership of the EU will at best be shelved for a significant period of time, or at worst scrapped altogether. EU expansion, especially in relation to Turkey, is unpopular in Germany, as well as France and Holland. The main reasons seem to be the shear size of Turkey, in terms of population, and the fact that it is an overwhelmingly Muslim country.
The size of Turkey disturbs those in France and Germany who harbour hopes of ever closer union. The admission of such a large country, with a population of 73 million compared to Germany's 83 million, would make it virtually impossible for the EU to ever become a federal state. It would be too widespread and diverse a body for that to occur. The fact that it is a Muslim country should be of no issue, but Holland is having a crisis of confidence over multi-culteralism and the "no" vote there could be due to concerns about the potential expansion.
Would Turkey's membership be a good thing for the EU? I think it would be. It would mean the EU would be more likely to be what the British people were lead to believe it would be when we voted to be a part of it in the 1970s - a free market rather than European state. It would demonstrate to the world that there is no necessary conflict between Muslim and Christian values: Turkey demonstrates that democracy and Islam are not mutually exclusive.
There are, of course, some important issues to address in relation to Turkey's admission to the EU. Firstly, there is the issue of human rights: Turkey does not have a good record on human rights. While the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is attempting to bring in reforms to address this, the country still has some way to go. The second issue is that of Cyprus: Turkey does not formally recognise the Greek Cypriot government of Cyprus. As the internationally recognised southern part of Cyprus is a member of the EU, it would be a necessary condition of Turkey' membership to recognise the Greek Cypriot government. This could lead to a final and lasting settlement over the future of Cyprus in general: some sort of agreement between the Turkish north and Greek south. The UN and EU backed efforts there appear to have stalled for the time being.
If Turkey is the unfortunate casualty of the "no" votes, and it sees its membership of the EU being kicked into the long-grass, it is possible it will start looking elsewhere for allies: to neighbours Syria and Iran, for example. That would not be a welcome result for the world, let alone for the EU.
An article in the Guardian on this topic: France blocks Turkey's path
Also, an interesting article in the New York Times: Turks, nervous about European prospects, turn to US (Note: I think you have to register (free) to read this.)
It seems eBay
have had a change of heart as regards live 8 tickets.
And this is just plain odd.
The size of Turkey disturbs those in France and Germany who harbour hopes of ever closer union. The admission of such a large country, with a population of 73 million compared to Germany's 83 million, would make it virtually impossible for the EU to ever become a federal state. It would be too widespread and diverse a body for that to occur. The fact that it is a Muslim country should be of no issue, but Holland is having a crisis of confidence over multi-culteralism and the "no" vote there could be due to concerns about the potential expansion.
Would Turkey's membership be a good thing for the EU? I think it would be. It would mean the EU would be more likely to be what the British people were lead to believe it would be when we voted to be a part of it in the 1970s - a free market rather than European state. It would demonstrate to the world that there is no necessary conflict between Muslim and Christian values: Turkey demonstrates that democracy and Islam are not mutually exclusive.
There are, of course, some important issues to address in relation to Turkey's admission to the EU. Firstly, there is the issue of human rights: Turkey does not have a good record on human rights. While the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is attempting to bring in reforms to address this, the country still has some way to go. The second issue is that of Cyprus: Turkey does not formally recognise the Greek Cypriot government of Cyprus. As the internationally recognised southern part of Cyprus is a member of the EU, it would be a necessary condition of Turkey' membership to recognise the Greek Cypriot government. This could lead to a final and lasting settlement over the future of Cyprus in general: some sort of agreement between the Turkish north and Greek south. The UN and EU backed efforts there appear to have stalled for the time being.
If Turkey is the unfortunate casualty of the "no" votes, and it sees its membership of the EU being kicked into the long-grass, it is possible it will start looking elsewhere for allies: to neighbours Syria and Iran, for example. That would not be a welcome result for the world, let alone for the EU.
An article in the Guardian on this topic: France blocks Turkey's path
Also, an interesting article in the New York Times: Turks, nervous about European prospects, turn to US (Note: I think you have to register (free) to read this.)
It seems eBay
And this is just plain odd.
# posted by GrecianEd @ 1:20 am 
