Monday, July 18, 2005
Turkey shoot?
An article in the Times concerning the likely future leaders of France and Germany, Merkel and Sarkozy, makes interesting reading: Leaders in waiting out to conjure a new vision of Europe.
The general gist of the article is that while the rise of those two politicians would bring France and Germany closer to the UK in some ways - for example they both favour more market-orientated economic policies - there are also possible clashes with the UK's current position in certain areas. The most important possible clash will, it seems, be over EU enlargement, or more precisely the issue of Turkey's membership of the EU. Currently, citizens of both countries seem to be against the idea of Turkey joining the EU, and both Merkel and Sarkozy agree with this. It appears that this is primarily because of the potential cultural clash of Christian and Muslim values. This, however, is a poor reason for not allowing a country to join the EU. Governments in Europe are secular, so religion should not be an issue. Millions of Muslims already live and work within the EU. Furthermore, there is no necessary clash between the two religions. A predominantly Muslim country such as Turkey joining the EU would be an excellent demonstration of the fact that "East" and "West" can work together.
Another reason often said to be behind the French and German dislike of Turkish membership relates to size of Turkey: if it joined it would be the second largest member state behind Germany, with a population expanding at a rate that means it could soon be the largest member. Its size would of course have to be reflected in voting distribution, thereby weakening the ability of France and Germany to control the direction of the EU. Furthermore, it is doubtful that any deeper integration would be possible in an EU that contained Turkey simply because of the size, spread and diversity of the countries involved.
Turkey is a large country whose government is working hard to adopt more Western laws, for example in relation to human rights, in order to gain acceptance in Europe. If Europe snubs Turkey despite its efforts, it could look elsewhere for help: to the US or, more worryingly, to Iran or Syria.
The general gist of the article is that while the rise of those two politicians would bring France and Germany closer to the UK in some ways - for example they both favour more market-orientated economic policies - there are also possible clashes with the UK's current position in certain areas. The most important possible clash will, it seems, be over EU enlargement, or more precisely the issue of Turkey's membership of the EU. Currently, citizens of both countries seem to be against the idea of Turkey joining the EU, and both Merkel and Sarkozy agree with this. It appears that this is primarily because of the potential cultural clash of Christian and Muslim values. This, however, is a poor reason for not allowing a country to join the EU. Governments in Europe are secular, so religion should not be an issue. Millions of Muslims already live and work within the EU. Furthermore, there is no necessary clash between the two religions. A predominantly Muslim country such as Turkey joining the EU would be an excellent demonstration of the fact that "East" and "West" can work together.
Another reason often said to be behind the French and German dislike of Turkish membership relates to size of Turkey: if it joined it would be the second largest member state behind Germany, with a population expanding at a rate that means it could soon be the largest member. Its size would of course have to be reflected in voting distribution, thereby weakening the ability of France and Germany to control the direction of the EU. Furthermore, it is doubtful that any deeper integration would be possible in an EU that contained Turkey simply because of the size, spread and diversity of the countries involved.
Turkey is a large country whose government is working hard to adopt more Western laws, for example in relation to human rights, in order to gain acceptance in Europe. If Europe snubs Turkey despite its efforts, it could look elsewhere for help: to the US or, more worryingly, to Iran or Syria.
