Article

2007-09-21 Europe

Turkey does not belong in Europe: Sarkozy

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Posted by Fred 2007-09-21 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 Since Turkey is never going to enter the EU, I suggest the US should encourage it to make up with Iraq and form the nucleus of a Middle East Common Market.

We can point out that Turkey will benefit doubly from doing so, in that it will not only profit handsomely from the new MECM, but it will also serve as the "bloc gateway" to the EU.

Ironically, in past Turkey, especially Istanbul (Constantinople), profited immensely from being the gateway from West to East; and now they would do so as a gateway from North to South.

Posted by Anonymoose 2007-09-21 09:41|| 2007-09-21 09:41|| Front Page Top

#2 Interesting idea, Moose, but two problems:

1) not sure the Arabs would trust the Turks given their history

2) if Israel is in, the Arabs are out; if Israel is out, it'll never work.

Posted by Steve White">Steve White 2007-09-21 11:52|| 2007-09-21 11:52|| Front Page Top

#3 Given *their* history, who would think the Germans and the French would get along?

Already, Kurdistan is probably the #2 trading partner with Turkey behind Europe. This is not mentioned often. Also, oil can flow North into Turkey, and then on to Europe, which would mean big bucks soon for both Iraq and Turkey, as they could undercut Russia and maybe even BP and Dutch Shell.

Growth in the area would be interesting. Already, Turkey has some relations with Israel, and Iraq is pretty borderline in going there, too. Egypt might also want on board. So the biggest problem would be standardizing for democracy and transparency, without which it would be futile.

Posted by Anonymoose 2007-09-21 16:37|| 2007-09-21 16:37|| Front Page Top

#4 Too late - there's already a bunch of Turkeys in Europe, they're called EU bureaucrats.

Posted by DMFD 2007-09-21 21:33|| 2007-09-21 21:33|| Front Page Top

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