On Thursday, Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey's most famous writers, entered an Istanbul court to face a charge of "insulting the national identity" after he advocated open discussion of the Turkish genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 and 1916. Pamuk faces three years in prison. Turkey's effort to fine and imprison those who do not toe the official line convinces me that I was correct to oppose opening negotiations on the country's European Union membership.
In December 1999, the European Council granted Turkey the status of EU candidate-member, implying that Turkey would accede to the union at some future, unspecified date.
Meanwhile, the commission published a progress report on Turkey that granted that reforms were continuing, albeit at a slower pace, under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's mildly Islamic-minded government. Yet the report also presented serious misgivings: human rights violations, including torture, continued; the military's influence remained too high; freedom of speech was not universally observed; non-Muslim religious and cultural minorities faced discrimination; and violence against women was not opposed strongly enough.
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In March 2005, the police violently disrupted a demonstration to celebrate International Women's Day. In May, the largest teachers' union was banned for promoting the education of Turkey's 14 million Kurds in their own language. Indeed, intolerance goes right to the top of the Turkish government. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul abruptly cancelled a recent news conference in Copenhagen when he spied a Kurdish journalist in the audience and the Danes refused to evict him.
Such actions and attitudes amply justify my dissent of October 2004. But, even if these shortcomings were removed, Turkey should still not be admitted to the EU, because it is not a European country. Christianity, feudalism, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, democracy, and industrialization have made us what we Europeans are; but they have not made Turks who they are. So I am not convinced that reforms in Turkey implemented at the insistence of the European Commission would continue after accession. Indeed, I suspect that there will be backsliding
By Frits Bolkestein
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=20792
In December 1999, the European Council granted Turkey the status of EU candidate-member, implying that Turkey would accede to the union at some future, unspecified date.
Meanwhile, the commission published a progress report on Turkey that granted that reforms were continuing, albeit at a slower pace, under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's mildly Islamic-minded government. Yet the report also presented serious misgivings: human rights violations, including torture, continued; the military's influence remained too high; freedom of speech was not universally observed; non-Muslim religious and cultural minorities faced discrimination; and violence against women was not opposed strongly enough.
...
In March 2005, the police violently disrupted a demonstration to celebrate International Women's Day. In May, the largest teachers' union was banned for promoting the education of Turkey's 14 million Kurds in their own language. Indeed, intolerance goes right to the top of the Turkish government. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul abruptly cancelled a recent news conference in Copenhagen when he spied a Kurdish journalist in the audience and the Danes refused to evict him.
Such actions and attitudes amply justify my dissent of October 2004. But, even if these shortcomings were removed, Turkey should still not be admitted to the EU, because it is not a European country. Christianity, feudalism, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, democracy, and industrialization have made us what we Europeans are; but they have not made Turks who they are. So I am not convinced that reforms in Turkey implemented at the insistence of the European Commission would continue after accession. Indeed, I suspect that there will be backsliding
By Frits Bolkestein
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=20792
