Turkey set to join the EU. Will Russia be next?

[luiz]

I think if Turkey joined the EU it would be excellent both for the turks and for the EU as a whole.

Obviously today they are poor, but so were Portugal, Spain, Greece and Ireland when they joined. And look at them now.

 

[Marla_Singer]

I think if Turkey joined the EU it would be excellent both for the turks and for the EU as a whole.

Obviously today they are poor, but so were Portugal, Spain, Greece and Ireland when they joined. And look at them now.

And so are today Poland and the 9 other new members. And so are Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia when they will join in 2007. I totally agree that th EU is great for the development in Europe, however that's not a reason to be too ambitious.

I used to support the idea of Turkey joining the EU. However, I'm not anymore convinced and if that's the case, it's mainly because Europe doesn't need to have a foot in the Middle East. Indeed, Turkey has a Mediterranean culture and Istanbul is in Europe, however Kurdistan is in the Middle East, and it's split between Turkey and its neighbours : Iran, Iraq, Syria. We should not underestimate those difficulties.

Actually, in the 60's, when the EU was called the EEC and was just an agreement on lower tariffs, we've promessed to Turkey to join one day. That has been made during the Cold war, at a time when Turkey was a member of the NATO, and at a time when the NATO was a lot more important than the European Union. The situation has evolved. There's no more threatening Soviets and the EU is not anymore a simple European trade organization.

 

[kronic]

Well compared to the original members they are still way behind. Only Ireland's performance is overwhelming. Spain OTOH is the largest netto taker.

And then Turkey would start on a much lower level than Spain, Portugal, Greece despite being as large as those countries combined.

If you look on the numbers you'll see that the 10 new members already are a huge challenge.


source


@stormbind
Yes the constitution is a treaty. The media never takes care about a proper coverage.

 

[zulu9812]

I think that giving Turkey access to the wealth of Europe is a huge moral mistake. Why reward them for massacering Kurds year on year? Why take an American lapdog unto our bosom? I don't care about extending Europe's strategic influence, or any of that bull. By rights, Turkey should be a pariah in the international community - I'm bamboozled as to why this is not the case. Turkey must change it's human rights record before it gains a foothold in any kind of capitalist club such as Europe.

 

[SeleucusNicator]

Spoken like somebody who does not understand the modern Turkish state and its situation, problems, and threats, zulu.

 

[Hakim]

Whenever Turkey fulfils the conditions set by EU, I welcome it.

There are today 456 million citizens in EU. Turkeys 73 won't make that much difference politically or economically.

 

[luiz]

However, I'm not anymore convinced and if that's the case, it's mainly because Europe doesn't need to have a foot in the Middle East.

Considering the dependency of the EU on Mid-Eastern oil (even larger then the american dependency), I would say that it would be very smart for europeans to have a strong foot in the ME.

 

[Free Enterprise]

From the link about GDP per capita: Luxembourg $53,780 per capita

The standard of living must be very high in Luxembourg! Ireland has grown in GDP very quickly also....which is interesting.

 

[stormbind]

Indeed. I say we invade and loot Luxembourg. It would only take a weekend at most

 

[Marla_Singer]

Considering the dependency of the EU on Mid-Eastern oil (even larger then the american dependency), I would say that it would be very smart for europeans to have a strong foot in the ME.

Yeah, however, Turkey, the former occupyer, is maybe not the best foot to have in the Middle East.

By the way, people start to say that if so many people supports Turkey inside the EU it's because it will host a pipeline coming from the Caspian Sea oil reserves (estimated as big as in the Middle East, but not yet used). Well anyway, that pipeline is not enough to convince me.

Indeed. I say we invade and loot Luxembourg. It would only take a weekend at most

I'm pretty sure that many parts of London are richer than Luxembourg.

Whenever Turkey fulfils the conditions set by EU, I welcome it.

There are today 456 million citizens in EU. Turkeys 73 won't make that much difference politically or economically.

Turkey is maybe at 73 million people today... but Turkey will be at 93 million in 2020, and over 100 million in 2030 (well I'll be old then, but still, that would make 20% of the population of the zone).

 

[stormbind]

Turkey is maybe at 73 million people today... but Turkey will be at 93 million in 2020, and over 100 million in 2030 (well I'll be old then, but still, that would make 20% of the population of the zone).

If the EU economy improves, and lifts the state of Turkey, then their reproduction rate would fall in the same way as it has done elsewhere.

Ofcourse, if population diversity is your concern, then you could advocate returning to Victorian values and banning the condom. That would increase family sizes from 2.4 to 8.0+, and increase the number of families too.

 

[zulu9812]

Spoken like somebody who does not understand the modern Turkish state and its situation, problems, and threats, zulu.

Actually, it was spoken by someone who really does believe in principles, and not merely what can be gained from a situation.