See how Turkey's bid to EU membership's been turned into a modern Torment of Tantalus.... (*)
Turkey and EU hesitate to tie the knot
Daniel Simpson The New York Times
Monday, August 5, 2002
In spite of reforms, both sides have reservations about membership
ISTANBUL Even if Turkey truly resolves two deeply controversial issues - abolishing the death penalty and expanding the civil rights of a restive Kurdish population - it would be misleading to think that membership in the European Union was just around the corner.
Early Saturday morning, after a raucous all-night session, Parliament approved a package of reforms, including abolishing the death penalty in peacetime, giving language rights to the Kurds and easing restrictions on freedom of speech - all aimed at meeting EU requirements for membership. But the reforms could still be scuttled, as the deputy prime minister, Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the nationalists in Parliament, said he would ask Turkey's highest court to overturn them.
Polls show that two-thirds of Turks support EU membership, primarily in the hope of an economic lift from Turkey's economic crises. But, as one Western diplomat put it, "There are few signs that Turkey has the collective will to adopt the common practices of the European Union."
The EU is in the midst of an ambitious expansion into the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe, but its commitment to Turkey remains in doubt. "It's not just a problem of Turkey's seriousness about reform," said another EU diplomat. "The EU is not all that serious, either. There's a lot of doubt among member states about whether Turkey really belongs in the club."
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iht.com
ROFL.... Hey, who'll tell the Turks that they'll NEVER make it into the Judeofascist Club??
(*) education.yahoo.com |
