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Europe
German FM: Turkey will never be EU member under Erdogan
2017-08-26
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
will never be a member of the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
as long as it is governed by Tayyip Erdogan, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Thursday, accusing the Ottoman Turkish president of failing to take accession talks with the bloc seriously.

His remarks in an interview with mass-selling newspaper Bild are likely to further inflame relations between the two NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
allies after Erdogan urged German Turks to boycott Germany’s main parties in next month’s general election.

"It is clear that in this state, Turkey will never become a member of the EU," Gabriel said. "It’s not because we don’t want them but because the Ottoman Turkish government and Erdogan are moving fast away from everything that Europe stands for."

EU leaders have been critical of Erdogan’s crackdown on opponents before and after a failed military coup against him in July last year. Accession talks have ground to a virtual halt though Turkey remains a candidate for membership.

Turkey’s Western allies fear that sweeping new powers Erdogan won in a tightly fought referendum in April are pushing Turkey away from democratic values.

Erdogan says both the crackdown and the increased presidential powers are needed to help tackle serious challenges to Turkey’s security both at home and beyond its borders.

Posted by:Fred

#6  Erdogan dammit. I hate autocorrect.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike   2017-08-26 20:41  

#5  'Could' should be 'should'. My two cents. I didn't always think this, maybe 25 years ago I was Turk supporter. Then Edrogan.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike   2017-08-26 20:39  

#4  Heck, as far as I'm concerned, we could kick Turkey out of NATO.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2017-08-26 19:56  

#3  "Sublime Porte". Had to look that one up.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike   2017-08-26 11:47  

#2  ...from the beginning.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2017-08-26 09:26  

#1   Turkey will never become a member of the EU,

I wasn't aware that that was still a question. Thought the Euros had pulled in the welcome mat and bolted the door awhile ago, no?
Posted by: AlanC   2017-08-26 08:09  

00:00