Is it in Turkey's interests to join this Christian club?

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Turkey European or Muslim!

There was no question of “hostile feelings”, the spokesman said, and every interest in “peace and cooperation”. But, since they represented “different cultures and different understandings of the world”, there could be no natural union between Europe and Turkey. It was an unwise and unrealistic plan.

A common enough sentiment in the Europe of Giscard d’Estaing and Edmund Stoiber. But this was a Turk, not a European, speaking, and not just any Turk but the man who is today Turkey’s new prime minister. Abdullah Gul is now the right-hand man in government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan - the leader of the Justice and Development party who, prevented by a legal ban from standing for parliament, cannot take the office of prime minister himself. In 1994, Gul was the deputy chairman and a spokesman on foreign affairs for Refah, a predecessor of the Justice and Development party. “Turkey should not join the European Union, we have said this from the beginning,” he told me during an interview in his office in the Turkish parliament. “Look at a European city, and then look at Istanbul. It’s not a Christian city.”

Erdogan and Gul have not tried to deny that their views have changed. That would in any case be impossible, given the frequency with which in the past they demanded that Turkey cease knocking on the door in Brussels, withdraw from Nato, and devote itself instead to the creation of an Islamic common market and to its ties with Turkic central Asia.

**Yet it seems probable that two very different projects are still under way in Turkey, the one to make the country more Islamic, and the other to make it less so, and that both have now seized on Europe as a means to their ends. **

Whether Europe really is an answer for either side is the question that Gul raised in his earlier incarnation. The suspicion must be that the Islamists’ hearts are not in it, and that the secularists’ need for both an icon and an ally has led them to overlook the real obstacles to union with what is indeed a Christian club.

comment: Turkey will never be accepted into the EU it so obvious. The americans pretend to help turkey by saying we gonna pressure Europe to accept you. Its all rubbish they only saying that because they want turkish bases for war on iraq once that mission done the turks can get lost far as america is concerned. Turkey applied several times since the early 1950’s to the old EEC and latvia, estonia and all these other tiny countries did’nt even exist in the 50’s now they in the EU and Turkey which applied all that time ago is not! Turkey should realise they are muslim and they should work for unity in the muslim world because it is clear Europe does’nt want them!

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All good things must wait..

UK had to wait many many years before it was allowed in...

France kept vetoing Britains entry into the European Common Market..

Not only will Turkey be part of EU.. the next step in North Africa..

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Turks are a muslim people, but an EU Turkey can help the whole muslim world relations with the rest.

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mo_best, Turkey is a "muslim" country to a very limited point. It's a secular country that preaches Western ideals in action and practice, despite being muslim. It's a country that puts itself under Europe on the globe instead of under Asia. It's a country who's "heroic" leader Kemal Ataturk abolished the Arabic script in favor of Latin. In closing, it's a country with major insecurities and hang-ups...a country that basically has an inferiority complex bigtime! What saddens me most about Turkey is that this is the same race of people that ruled a major empire back in the day--the Ottomans. And now, they have no backbone left at all.

:(

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I distinctly said Turks are a muslim ppl, not Turkey is a muslim nation.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by moona: *
Turkey is that this is the same race of people that ruled a major empire back in the day--the Ottomans. And now, they have no backbone left at all.

:(
[/QUOTE]

Moona so true they abandoned islam because they thought it was holding them back now look at them without islam they are nothing $60 billion in debt and poverty rife in turkey similar to pakistan only good point they have is strong army but strong army is not everything you need policies and economy too

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ak47, thank you for the excellent point! :k:

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Actually ak47 "During the last two decades there has been a significant improvement in Turkey's social indicators. Infant mortality rates have fallen sharply. Literacy rates have climbed. Life expectancy has reached respectable levels for both men and women. And both economic vulnerability and absolute poverty have fallen. Survey evidence, moreover, reveals that between 1987 and 1994 the total number of the poor in Turkey actually dropped." -that information is from the world bank.

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Regarding the title of this thread, this is the first time that I have ever heard of the EU being called a "Christian Club." Can anyone point to me anything that suggests that the religious persuasion of the majority of a country's population plays any role whatsoever in determining whether to admit a country as a member? Can anyone point to me anything that suggests that any of the policies and/or actions of the EU even consider religion as a factor to be considered?

Or is the title of this thread just one more instance where someone is grasping at straws to make religion a divisive issue where it is not?

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Myvoice

simple why is turkey refused entry :eek:

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The EU has given Turkey a list of things that it should strive to achieve in order to obtain EU membership. Among the concerns expressed by the EU are major problems in human rights, particularly in the area of torture.

If the EU countries were just plain anti-Muslim, I seriously doubt that Turkey would have been admitted as a member of NATO. If Turkey were militarily attacked by a foreign enemy, lots of white boys in what has been referred to as “Christian Club” countries would be risking their lives defending the Muslim Turks.

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Some German guy once called EU "Christian Club" and yes that is a major factor in it, but I mean ultimately Turkey will get in, under intense US pressure on EU.

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Yeah but mo_best, why is intense US pressure even necessary for Turkey to gain entry to the EU??? It should be welcomed into the “Christian Club” with open arms.

:rolleyes:

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by myvoice: *

If the EU countries were just plain anti-Muslim, I seriously doubt that Turkey would have been admitted as a member of NATO. If Turkey were militarily attacked by a foreign enemy, lots of white boys in what has been referred to as "Christian Club" countries would be risking their lives defending the Muslim Turks.
[/QUOTE]

Turkey has 1 million strong army with huge arsenal of weaponary it is a useful tool for nato to use and abuse how many other members of EU has such an army this big not a lot!

They become useful in Nato but being member of EU no chance!

They would'nt even accept Bosnia a majority muslim country to flourish in heart of Europe and we all know what happened there genoicide upon genoicde You expect them to accept Turkey be real!