Title:
• “” The impossibility of saying no(Many European governments dislike the idea of Turkey joining the European Union-but they are still likely to agree in December to open membership talks).
Source:
• “The Economist” September 18th-24th 2004.
TOPIC DISCUSSED.
The entry of Turkey into the EU, why not saying NO.
CONTENT.
The issue is the analysis of the general situation of Turkey, because this opening could have a strong impact on the Western countries.
The article explains in a very detailed way the situation of all the country. It is a strange situation, because the country has different and contrasting faces.
PROBLEMS RAISED:
The problems raised are well and deeply described, here i am going to summarize some topics:
• The first impression is that of a country with a very positive look: free press, flourishing democracy, stable government, big parliament majority
• The second face is that of an Asian country. It lies mostly in Asia and it borders with trouble places like Iran, Iraq, Syria. The currency has been repeatedly devaluated.
Dreadful human-rights record and its torture of prisoners are well documented, its people are overwhelmingly Muslim and it could be the EU’s biggest member by population, but there are no two different places, it is the same country :
Turkey.
• Many of the EU politicians have different position on this issue, because of various points of view.
• After the 2001, it seems Turkey is going better under various criteria.
Economy is improving and inflation is under control but Turkey is still too poor country, the foreign investments are lower one-fifth than Hungary.
• Progress in Kurdistan matters: new official TV in Kurdish language, and teaching the previous prohibited language in the schools.
The death penalty has been abolished.
• Cyprus’s affaire is still open, and it is difficult to solve instead Greece ,now, is a good supporter to join Europe.
• Turkey is not in Europe, only a small part of it is on our continent. Turkey has 71m people and in 15 years it could become too big with the heaviest voting weight in Brussels. It could be a decision maker, in addition to this it could become a very danger.
• Islam. The religious argument against admitting Turkey rests one of the strongest. Probably Islam is incompatible with secular liberal democracy. This is not a case of equating Islam with support for Osama bin Laden, but many Europeans are hostile to Turkey’s plan to joint their Union.
On the other hand the action of admitting it could be positive, to show that democracy and liberal economics are compatible with Islam.
GENERAL COMMENTS.
To join a big state, like Turkey, could be a big business for EU.
It has a weak economy and it needs many investments to develop, but the other EU countries could sell the technology and their know how to a poor country where the labour cost is low.
Turkey could be a good test –case in order to encourage all Muslims, not Ankara only, to join into liberal democracy.
PERSONAL COMMENT.
Such processes need time, many years in order for a country to change and modify his culture to merge another one.
The new Globalisation will help in cutting time for the integration of such different cultures; new generations will be more open minding than the previous and it is a good help to take Turkey with us.