Originally Posted by
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
Wait a second; earlier you said the majority felt the way you did? But now most Europeans are against Turkey joining?
Original post, “I personally think that Turkey should be in the union and most people I know feel the same.”
Originally Posted by
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
You say Turkey is a modern and well developed country? Well, try to leave the tourist areas (or military bases) and you’ll quickly realize that in many areas of Turkey, especially the eastern parts the standard of living is simply abhorrent. They make the Philippines look like Dubai.
You have a point, but seeing that Romania and Bulgaria were accepted into the EU, and countries like Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Albania, etc. are probably going to be joining, then I don’t see your point.
Originally Posted by
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
You keep comparing to Mexico but Mexico’s economy is tenfold stronger than that of Turkey’s. It is also more modern and democratic than Turkey has ever been (not necessarily an endorsement of Mexico’s progress).
I have not once compared Mexico to Turkey. In each of my two posts I have talked about Mexico and the North America union separately.
Originally Posted by
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
Do some people dislike Turkey simply because most if its citizens are Muslims? You bet ya, some do. However, the main reason most Europeans do not want them in their union is because they think Turkey is not yet ready to fully embrace democracy, equality for women and minorities, etc. Killing off 40% of the Christian Armenian population did not help; on top of that even discussing that genocide will land you in a Turkish prison. Remember, we are talking Darfur times 1,000 here; hundreds of thousands of men, women and children slaughtered. You think the Nazis ‘invented” the gas chambers? Think again – plz watch ABC News.
If you want to go and consider the past atrocities in Europe then nearly every country would be ineligible. Again see the list of countries that have joined recently and the ones expected to join in the future and you will find much more recent examples of atrocities.
Originally Posted by
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
Turkey claims to be a part of Europe however, remember – geographically there’s only one tiny sliver of land that’s in the European part of Turkey and to complicate things even more, that sliver of land used to be called Constantinople and as you well know it was hardly Turkish then.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...tionEurope.png
Maybe the Europeans should have told them that many years ago before they started having negotiations with them to join.
Originally Posted by
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
They are trying to improve things and slowly some things do improve. However, like stated in the article – Turkey and the rest of the Europe are separated by several hundred years and that’s the reason Europeans want to keep them out, not because they’re Muslim.
I disagree
Originally Posted by
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
Nonsense – that’s what France and Germany want - the same countries you vilified earlier for their stance. Most EU countries simply want to make trading easier, improve education exchange, simplify communications, etc, etc. The minute you see EU turning into a ‘superstate’ with its own military, etc. you’ll see some EU states leaving the union. I agree that the military status in Europe is pitiful but that should be dealt with within each country or within NATO.
I agree, but I like how you said "Nonsense" to my quote which said "The idea of the European Union was that they are mostly smaller countries and to act as one would make them stronger." Not one time did I mention anything to do with military or superpower, I was talking about the original goal of the European Council.
Originally Posted by
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
No one has ever attacked EU because such a ‘country’ does not exist.
Yes correct, that is why there was no need to have that language in the Lisbon treaty. Again Europe trying to be something that it could never become. Too many different opinions, national identities, and past grudges to ever make Europe united. The Lisbon treaty tries to set the path to a united Europe even if they say that it does not. There is language in the treaty which says something like all members must respond to and give assistance and aid to any member that has been attacked.
Originally Posted by
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
PS. Do you want to start a Turkey thread?
So in a nutshell - we need to build more wind power turbines!!!
Ha, I think I am all set with Turkey.
I agree we need more wind turbines. A good example of how this is not going to do anything quickly is by looking at Cape Wind which wants to build an offshore wind farm off Nantucket, Massachusetts. They first applied for permits back in 2001, I am not sure if it takes this long normally for wind farms to get approval, but if it does take this long we are screwed. For anything to work they would need to pass some laws which would allow certain projects to bypass all the red tape.
Last edited by Shamrock23; 07-12-2008 at 12:32 PM.