Old world and new

[King Tech Quadafi]

Joining the EU would be an economic boon for Turkey, but Europeans may resent its Muslim population

By Eric Margolis

LONDON -- The great Ottoman sultan, Mehmet the Conqueror, dreamed of recreating the Roman Empire by taking Constantinople and Rome. In 1453, his armies stormed Constantinople. Rome was next.

To reach Italy, Memhet's armies had to transit Albania to the Adriatic Coast. Thirty years of ferocious Albanian resistance led by national hero Skenderbeg defeated every Ottoman invasion. Only after Skenderbeg's death was Albania finally conquered. In 1480, Turkish forces landed in southern Italy.

When the Turks were only 250 km from defenceless Rome, Mehmet died. Successor Bayazid II cared nothing for Europe. He halted the invasion of Italy and sent his armies east to conquer Persia. The Italian Renaissance was saved by Albania's resistance and sheer luck.

The Turks have never been sure whether they are Asians or Europeans. For the past 40 years, they've been trying to become part of Europe. This week, Turkey finally opened membership talks with the European Community, just when Europe is deeply conflicted over its nature and direction.

These talks will drag on for a decade before Turkey's 72 million citizens become full EU members, and demand a social and legal revolution to comply with over 800 pages of EU laws.

Turkey's popular, capable prime minister, Racep Erdogan, a moderate Islamist, and foreign minister Abdullah Gul, have already implemented important political and legal reforms to prepare Turkey for EU admission, including curbing many human rights abuses and making a peace of sorts with rebellious Kurds.

But Turkey is not yet a full, European-style democracy. The 580,000-strong armed forces, NATO's second largest, remains dangerously politicized. Its bullying, hard line, anti-Islamic generals are a constant menace to democratic governments, whom they have repeatedly threatened to overthrow. Erdogan was even once jailed by the generals for daring to recite an ancient Islamic poem.

Turkey's generals, allied to big industrialists and bankers, consider themselves guardians of the 1930's semi-fascist ideology of dictator Mustafa Kemal, a great national hero turned dictator and oppressor of Islam in his later years. The cults of Franco, Mussolini, Salazar and Peron are gone, but Ataturk's dour ghost still rules Turkey through the army.

Back to the barracks

Before Turkey can become a full EU member, its generals must get out of politics and return to their barracks. Kemalist ideology needs to be buried.

Many Turks want to be part of Europe. The economic advantages for Turkey will be enormous. The U.S. and Britain are pushing hard for Turkey to join. They hope the pro-U.S. Turks will dilute the power of France and Germany, providing an Atlanticist Trojan Horse that will split the EU and help police the Mideast's rowdy muslims.

But Britain's Tony Blair and Jack Straw exaggerate when claiming Turkey "has always been a European country."

Only a small chunk of Turkey is in Europe. North Africa is closer to Brussels than Turkey's capital, Ankara, and as much part of Europe's history and economy as Turkey.

More important, 55% of Europeans -- particularly in nations with large muslim immigrant populations like France, Germany, Holland, and Austria -- don't want any more muslims in Christian Europe. Neither does the Pope. In 10 years, Turkey will surpass Germany as Europe's most populous nation.

Europe's old bogeymen of the "Unspeakable Turk" coming to ravish Christian maidens is resurfacing. So will legitimate fears that hordes of migrant Turks will take scarce jobs across the continent, swamp welfare rolls, and devour the lion's share of EU farm subsidies.

Turkey's small, secular ruling elite is totally Europeanized. But the rest of this great and distinct muslim nation is not.

I've always been pessimistic this marriage will work. Turkey might be better off with a privileged economic-political partnership with Europe than full union in which it ends up an unwanted, second-class relative.

Hopefully, I'm wrong. But there's a real danger anti-muslim Europeans will spend the coming decade finding a thousand reasons for blocking or delaying Turkish membership, leaving the proud, prickly Turks embittered and enraged.

http://torontosun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Margolis_Eric/2005/10/08/1254541.html

[J Bananas]

"smack the bitch in her face, take her gucci bag and her north face!"

[King Tech Quadafi]

"off her back, jab her if she act
funny with the money oh u got me mistaken honey
I don't wanna rape ya, I just want the paper
the visa, kapeesha?  I'm out like the vapors"

[ωεεźγ ғ]

"Who’s the one you call mr. macho, the head honcho
Swift fist like camacho, I got so
Much style I should be down wit the stylistics
Make up to break up niggaz need to wake up
Smell the indonesia; beat you to a seizure
Then fuck your moms, hit the skins til amnesia
She don’t remember shit! just the two hits!
Her hittin the floor, and me hittin the clits"

[TraceOneInfinite]

"There's several different levels of devils worshippin horses heads/
Human sacrifices, canibals, animals, and caniballism, and exorcism/
Animals, having sex with, mammalls camels and rabits/
But I don't get into that I kicked the habit"

[Don Seer]

Europe's old bogeymen of the "Unspeakable Turk" coming to ravish Christian maidens is resurfacing. So will legitimate fears that hordes of migrant Turks will take scarce jobs across the continent, swamp welfare rolls, and devour the lion's share of EU farm subsidies.

i guess thats why over the weekend i heard something about how france did or said something negative about turkey?

[Don Rizzle]

turkey already enjoy the benefits of the EU like free trade, and now they want us to subsidise their country and to have political influence within the EU, but what is the beneifit to the EU if we let them in? its just seems like if we let them join were giving them something for nothing.....

[7even]

they first have to accept DECENT human rights before I can consider them a part of us. shit's too nuts over there at the moment, no human rights whatsoever (for european standards).

['EclipZe]

^ 7even's right, get some decent human rights before crying about getting into the EU.

[Don Rizzle]

plus how can they join when they don't even recognise all member states?

[King Tech Quadafi]

Turkey is the sell out whore of the Muslim world

the shuckin and jiving Uncle Tom

Faggot ass Turks will kill a Kurd without hesitation then run and shake a Germans hands with a smile on his face

[No Compute]

They will have to recognise the Armenian genocide first.

[Sikotic™]

They will have to recognise the Armenian genocide first.

They're too bitch made to recognize it.