Shoud Turkey be a member of EU?

[jamrak]

I think that should not. cuz when it comes to any kind of community, the main idea is to separate something among the others, even if the title of that community is "union" - when everybody becomes a member of a community, it is loosing it sense. for example there are 10 people. 4 of them desided to be a "bla-bla-bla union". Than 2 other guys desided to enter that "bla-bla-bla union". ok. than all 10 people are in the same union. and the situation is analogous to the moment, before that union was created: there are no advantages of being a member of a union, when everybody is already inside of it.
The next step is to create new sub-community, which will have more benefits than that previous large community. And the situatuion will repeat itself.
That is the only one reason. The other is that Turkey is not a european country by its origins.

 

[Laurence]

No. Turkey is part of the Middle East. The EU is a union of European states. Its values are secular, European values. Turkey is culturally more closely linked to other Middle Eastern nations. Only western Turkey is Europeanized.

 

[-KING-]

I think the question should be...should the EU really even exist?
Whats the use of a union...when (for example) Britain goes to war with Iraq and France does not?

 

[Friday on my mind]

I voted yes.I think Turkey is right now a secular country and that recently there were protests over govt maybe changing that.Woudn't it maybe be a good idea to bring them in to the secular EU to encourage them to stay that way themselves?And possibly have a spill over into the middle east of secularism which I think would be in everyones interest.

 

[McRocket]

I voted yes.I think Turkey is right now a secular country and that recently there were protests over govt maybe changing that.Woudn't it maybe be a good idea to bring them in to the secular EU to encourage them to stay that way themselves?And possibly have a spill over into the middle east of secularism which I think would be in everyones interest.

I think that is a very good point.

I like this thread idea btw.

 

[Laurence]

I think the question should be...should the EU really even exist?
Whats the use of a union...when (for example) Britain goes to war with Iraq and France does not?

The problem with Britain is that it's a nation of Euro-sceptics. Now I have nothing whatsoever against Britain or its people, but they'd really want to cop on and stop trying at every turn to impede the development of an integrated European Union. There's no need to be suspicious of Europe anymore. This isn't 1805 or 1940. There are no French or German empires threatening to conquer Brittainnia.

 

[blakey]

The problem with Britain is that it's a nation of Euro-sceptics. Now I have nothing whatsoever against Britain or its people, but they'd really want to cop on and stop trying at every turn to impede the development of an integrated European Union. There's no need to be suspicious of Europe anymore. This isn't 1805 or 1940. There are no French or German empires threatening to conquer Brittainnia.

why, if the british people are, as you say, Euro-sceptics, should the uk "cop on" and fire headlong into unlimited eu integration ?
if they don't want that should the uk be forced to intergrate against the wishes of the people (if the people are against further integration) ?

when france & the netherlands rejected the last constitutional treaty ?

a little bit off topic i know but i'd just like to see what you think ?

 

[jamrak]

I think Turkey is right now a secular country and that recently there were protests over govt maybe changing that.Woudn't it maybe be a good idea to bring them in to the secular EU to encourage them to stay that way themselves?

I think that they can be called secular just in compare with other middle-eastern countries. yes, among them they look like oasis of freedom. but in compare with europe, well... I am afraid that their influence could be much greater on europe, than the influence of europe on turkey. and migration processess inside the borders of EU (with Turkey as a mamber of it) will be much more larger than now... just imagine that.

 

[Laurence]

Of course the British people should not be forced to integrate against their wishes, but if they are unprepared to commit themselves fully to Europe, then Britain should perhaps consider leaving the EU altogether.

 

[calpoon]

not a european country, based on what? how do you define what is and isn't "european"? By that association I'd say that scandinavia, norway, finland and the other countries that where never taken over by rome/have a culture and government,people dating back to the time of thier settling are the only "real" european countries. to a lesser extent would be the central european countries, and the southern and eastern european countires are all very tied and influenced to asia and the middle east throughout thier history. Also just like turkey, spain was once under muslim rule, so should it be not included too?

that's all stupid. admission to the EU should be based on current dipolmatic/economic ties and what they wish to bring to europe by working toward making it more closely knit. that should be the criteria and I think that if turkey is involved in that aim, it should be a part of it.

on the other hand... why the hell does europe need a union? there's allready a forum for countries to deal with each other, it's called the United Nations. Last time I checked when thier was a bunch of regional power consolidation it was the offset of the World Wars. Along those lines do you think that China, Noth Korea, and Cuba, or south america, or the middle-east should get together and exclude the rest of the world from thier business? that's not going to happen, it's just going to keep causing more situations of conflicts between nations by creating a tension zone of division.

 

[member006]

Oh no, deja vu. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!

I have no further opinion on this subject, had my say in the last discussion.

LL

 

[McRocket]

And to King, is that Lucia Tovar, because... WOW.

Her name is Candice (at least, on foxes.com it is). I only type that because I am a huge fan of Lucia Tovar's exterior.


I have no problem with Turkey joining the EU.
But just for the record, only a tiny percentage of Turkey's geography and population reside inside Europe.
And, IMO, the only reason the EU wants Turkey is for more power. Over 70 million more people and an economy that is currently growing at almost twice the rate of Germany, France or the U.K..
As with most leaders, they want more power. And an EU with Turkey is noticeably more powerful.
My guess is if 1/1000 of Turkey was in Europe they would still want her to join the EU.

Personally, I am rather suspicious of Turkey's human rights record. But maybe getting into the EU will smarten them up (un literally).

 

[McRocket]

You're wrong McRocket. I know my geography. A tiny percentage of Turkiye's land mass is in Europe. However a large percentage of its population is in Europe. Istanbul has many times the number of people of any other Turkish city. A huge part of Istanbul is in Europe and even on the Asian side, it is considered a European city. Plenty of European countries have bad human rights records too. Being in the EU has been an incentive to turn that around.

Well, I should have typed a small percentage and not a 'tiny' percentage of the population.

The fact is that there are almost 12 million people in Istanbul. Many of them live on the Asian side. I care not what they call it. Once you cross that water, you ARE in Asia.
Also, there are over 20 cities in Turkey (other then Istanbul) that have over 1 million people - none of which (I believe) are on the European side.
So my statement of a 'tiny percentage' may have been wrong. But even if you took the entire population of Istanbul as lieing in Europe (which it clearly does not), roughly 1 in 7 Turks live in Asia.

I would not call 1 in 7 a 'large percentage' as you put it.
But if you want to call 14% large? Fair enough. It's all a matter of perspective, I guess.

 

[belfastsixpack]

Perhaps a deal can be made: if Turkey accepts responsibility for the Armenian Genocide, they would be admitted into the EU.

PS. this poll needs a third option of "under certain circumstances"

 

[McRocket]

BTW, my above 1 in 7 figure was based on only that part of Istanbul that actually lies inside Europe being taken into account.

Sorry.

 

[dick van cock]

It's a lot closer to Europe than Israel,

Geographically: Yes!

Economically and culturally: No!

"Europe" as a concept is not about geography. The EU is foremost an economic union.

Turkey is even poorer than the former communist countries that just joined. We cannot afford to pour billions and billions of subsidies into its rural backwaters without having swallowed the last bite of expansion , yet.

Turkey may join someday. But not before 2035. :2 cents:

 

[BigSwede]

I don´t like the EU at all.

 

[Vanilla Bear]

Hell No! Of course not!
Ok actually the whole EU should not exist! Its one of the most ridiculous unions ever.
But sadly there is the EU and Turkey should never be allowed to become a member!

 

[DreamSparrow]

Substitute Muslim for Jew in the above post, a whole lot of heat would be coming your way for being a vicious anti-semite.

I really hope we won't see a case of double standards here.

 

[Iamforever]

Substitute Muslim for Jew in the above post, a whole lot of heat would be coming your way for being a vicious anti-semite.

I really hope we won't see a case of double standards here.

if the jews massacred (i didnt say genocide) the armenians, then i would say fuck them too. :2 cents: