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| Europe |
| Turkey sent to the back of the line... again |
| 2004-06-22 |
| The Croatians were jubilant last week as the European Commission simply gave the go ahead to name Croatia as a candidate for membership and start accession talks in 2005. This is of course a blow to Turkey that has been struggling for years to appease the EU member states and get a date for accession talks. Turks would have expected at least some tough negotiations for Croatia before they even considered this Balkan country eligible for membership. But we see with great surprise that the meticulous efforts to grill Turkey over practically every issue and create numerous obstacles have not been repeated in the case of Croatia. More at the link. Basically Turkey gets snubbed again as Croatia is given a date for entering talks on joining the EU. Turkey doesn’t even have that. |
| Posted by:Laurence of the Rats |
| #15 You gotta admit though, Turkey does now look like a...well, turkey. So was it worth it, bending over for Chiraq??? I hope he used a condom at least. Suckers. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-06-22 9:47:31 PM |
| #14 No, I posted that out of spite over the fact that he said: "Apparently the EU is for nations which are smug in their genocidal success. Nations which have repeatedly failed to finish off their minorities are clearly too racially inferior for the European Union." |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-22 9:35:26 PM |
| #13 Aris, that last comment is uncalled for. You posted that out of spite over the fact your comment was questioned. |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-06-22 8:53:42 PM |
| #12 Also note Mitchell's fine distinction of "external genocide" versus I suppose "internal genocides" which are probably okay by him. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-22 4:49:54 PM |
| #11 Mitch> And Greece had been a dictatorship that attempted the military takeover of Cyprus (and I assure you that *would* have been followed up by an ethnic cleansing of the Turkish Cypriots there) only SIX years before it became part of the EU. Given that Croatia will at soonest become a member state on 2007, that'll be a gap of 12 years, double the gap that was given for Greece. Am I right? -- Also: Freedomhouse labels Croatia as "Free" at 2/2 http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2003/countryratings/croatia.htm even as it labels Turkey as "Partially Free" at 3/4 http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2003/countryratings/turkey.htm The lower the ratings the better. From the same Freedom House, Press Freedom is rated at 33 in Croatia, at 55 in Turkey. (ratings of 2003, I believe) Again the lower the better. ---- So, yeah, I think you'll find EU caring about the modern-day status of countries more than they care about whether they have crimes in their recent or distant past. If it makes you any feel better, cooperation at handing over all war criminals to the international court is essential in moving Croat-EU relations forward. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-22 4:41:38 PM |
| #10 oh jeez, you countered Aris!, Here comes another 80 comment thread..... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-06-22 4:18:45 PM |
| #9 You know, Aris, the last external genocidal war the Turks were involved in was the Cyprus embarrassment. The Croats were ethnically-cleansing Serbs and Muslims as recently as nine years ago. The only reason they're not doing it right now is that they managed to clean the Serbs out of their controlled territory, root and branch. Apparently the EU is for nations which are smug in their genocidal success. Nations which have repeatedly failed to finish off their minorities are clearly too racially inferior for the European Union. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2004-06-22 4:13:53 PM |
| #8 Erdogan to Chirac and Schroeder If I let you screw me again, then can I be your friend? |
| Posted by: B 2004-06-22 3:23:24 PM |
| #7 Turkey should have given up long ago and worked on their own middle-eastern empire. If they'd sided with the US they could easily have taken over Syria and played the majority role in the Iraqi occupation . Turkey could have been a player again, instead they simply want to hitch their wagon to the EU and let them do all the thinking and hard work. |
| Posted by: yank 2004-06-22 3:21:00 PM |
| #6 Turkey's been improving but it's not ready for the EU yet. And the EU is not ready for Turkey, for that matter. Even if you let aside its large and growing population, the problems with Cyprus and so forth, and the human rights issues, I'm not so sure we want to have common borders with Iraq, Syria and Iran as yet. Croatia is a much less problematic candidate all around. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-22 2:44:00 PM |
| #5 At Turkey is still great friends with the US... oh, right. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-06-22 1:35:24 PM |
| #4 France and Germany have been very clear about their opposition to Turkish entrance to the EU. Perhaps Turkey will be invited in after Islam takes over Eurabia. |
| Posted by: yank 2004-06-22 1:12:44 PM |
| #3 This is of course a blow to Turkey.. Reminds me of the hapless dweeb in school that, even after numerous previous instances, will still look down when you point to a spot on his shirt, only to get a finger rubbed upward across his face as a joke. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-22 1:03:25 PM |
| #2 BigEd needs to repost Nelson Muntz |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-06-22 12:24:17 PM |
| #1 murat - another opportunity to say HAHAHAHA...turkey should of known they could not count on the EU....kinda backed yourself in the corner in a very dangerous part of the world (and do not try and say Bush made it that way - been that way for years - decades)..once again HAHAHA |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-06-22 12:19:53 PM |