So Merkel is now...

RandomName2

... promising to "speed up" Turkish entry to the EU. This is apropos of an agreement for Turkey to "stem" the number of refugees coming into the EU.

This is odd in many ways.

1. How would Turkey be expected to stem the tide of refugees?
2. What point are Turkey's efforts when refugees are not blocked from entering the EU?
3. What right has Merkel to implicitly promise Turkish membership by explicitly speaking for the whole EU?
4. Why did Merkel say that over a million refugees would be welcome in Germany if she didn't want to encourage their arrival in the EU?
5. Relaxing visa restrictions and border controls with Turkey, as promised in this agreement, would seem to work in the opposite direction to stemming flow of people from the middle east and Asia to Europe.
6. Turkey is an active player in the Syrian Civil War: actively bombing Kurds, supporting rebels and sabre rattling against Assad and Russia. Yet this country is seen as the honest broker?


Seeing that many refugees are also coming from Libya, is Libyan membership in the EU also on the cards?

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RandomName2 wrote: »

... promising to "speed up" Turkish entry to the EU. This is apropos of an agreement for Turkey to "stem" the number of refugees coming into the EU.

This is odd in many ways.

1. How would Turkey be expected to stem the tide of refugees?
2. What point are Turkey's efforts when refugees are not blocked from entering the EU?
3. What right has Merkel to implicitly promise Turkish membership by explicitly speaking for the whole EU?
4. Why did Merkel say that over a million refugees would be welcome in Germany if she didn't want to encourage their arrival in the EU?
5. Relaxing visa restrictions and border controls with Turkey, as promised in this agreement, would seem to work in the opposite direction to stemming flow of people from the middle east and Asia to Europe.
6. Turkey is an active player in the Syrian Civil War: actively bombing Kurds, supporting rebels and sabre rattling against Assad and Russia. Yet this country is seen as the honest broker?


Seeing that many refugees are also coming from Libya, is Libyan membership in the EU also on the cards?

That's a serious misrepresentation.

First up, ALL the European leaders support talks with Turkey. Turkey wants visa restrictions for Turkish citizens to be eased or even scrapped. It also wants talks about its membership bid to be prioritised. That doesn't mean agreement will be reached on either. Merkel's position is she is open to talks on these. She is not saying she supports them being agreed though, merely, that she supports them being considered. Other European leaders will make their own decisions.

gobsh!te

Don't worry. There's no way Turkey will be anywhere near joining the EU. The treatment of the Kurds and the fact that Turkey is a Muslim country (which would have the second largest population in the EU)means this will not happen any time soon.

The Corinthian

RandomName2 wrote: »

... promising to "speed up" Turkish entry to the EU.

Don't worry, Austria is standing at the gates. 332 years after the battle of Vienna and the Austrians are still keeping the Turks out of Europe. Omnia mutantur, nihil interit.

Sierra Oscar

Turkey is potentially facing severe internal conflict in the coming years. The policies it has pursued in the Middle East in recent years will come back to haunt the Turkish Government.

I'm not very keen on the idea of permitting them to join the European Union.

Iwasfrozen

RandomName2 wrote: »

... promising to "speed up" Turkish entry to the EU. This is apropos of an agreement for Turkey to "stem" the number of refugees coming into the EU.

This is odd in many ways.

1. How would Turkey be expected to stem the tide of refugees?
2. What point are Turkey's efforts when refugees are not blocked from entering the EU?
3. What right has Merkel to implicitly promise Turkish membership by explicitly speaking for the whole EU?
4. Why did Merkel say that over a million refugees would be welcome in Germany if she didn't want to encourage their arrival in the EU?
5. Relaxing visa restrictions and border controls with Turkey, as promised in this agreement, would seem to work in the opposite direction to stemming flow of people from the middle east and Asia to Europe.
6. Turkey is an active player in the Syrian Civil War: actively bombing Kurds, supporting rebels and sabre rattling against Assad and Russia. Yet this country is seen as the honest broker?


Seeing that many refugees are also coming from Libya, is Libyan membership in the EU also on the cards?

1. & 2. You serious? Turkey is the bridge between Syria and Europe, it's the best quipped country to stop block access at Istanbul.

I support Turkey joining the EU. Funnily enough most secular democratic moderates in Turkey support it as well, if you want a secular democratic Middle East Turkey is the best country to start with.

gobsh!te

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

1. & 2. You serious? Turkey is the bridge between Syria and Europe, it's the best quipped country to stop block access at Istanbul.

I support Turkey joining the EU. Funnily enough most secular democratic moderates in Turkey support it as well, if you want a secular democratic Middle East Turkey is the best country to start with.

I would not allow Turkey in solely based on their treatment of the Kurds personally....but it does not matter they wont get in

RandomName2

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

2. You serious? Turkey is the bridge between Syria and Europe, it's the best quipped country to stop block access at Istanbul.

I mean what, is Turkey to put up fences, stop people getting in boats, or arrest those attempting to leave? None of this would benefit Turkey, so I don't see why they would make much efforts to this end.

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

I support Turkey joining the EU. Funnily enough most secular democratic moderates in Turkey support it as well, if you want a secular democratic Middle East, Turkey is the best country to start with.

But Turkey is hated by all its neighbors (with the exception of Azerbaijan). It has treatened to invade Iraq if a Kurdistan is created, it actively engages in the Syrian Civil War in an attempt to destabilise Assad, it is antagonistic to Israel, it had serious bad blood with Armenia. It doesn't get on very well with Iran. I'm not sure about Lebannon or Jordan...

There are moderates in Turkey, as there are in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. These countries are known for their surprisingly large middle classes. However, while the extremists in Turkey are less prominent than in somewhere like Iraq, it is still a deeply divided country (as recent protests and upheavals have shown)

jmayo

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

1. & 2. You serious? Turkey is the bridge between Syria and Europe, it's the best quipped country to stop block access at Istanbul.

Why would they stop them ?
After all the sooner they are not their problem the better for them.
If they were so bothered about Syria they wouldn't have allowed it be used as a transit corridor for ISIS.
In fact did they onyl really take on ISIS/ISIL when they were threatening their allies the Free Syrian Army (that they in fact really helped setup) in northern Syria.
It was only in July this year that they actually started taking on ISIS.

The whole Syrian crisis is in no small part down to Turkey.

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

I support Turkey joining the EU. Funnily enough most secular democratic moderates in Turkey support it as well, if you want a secular democratic Middle East Turkey is the best country to start with.

I do not want to see Turkey in the EU.

Thinking that our Western European brand of secular democracy will somehow wash over the Middle East once we welcome Turkey into the EU is about as batsh** crazy as Americans and British thinking the Iraqis would all play happy families once Saddam was removed.

If anything it is Turkey's military that is keeping Turkey secular, not democracy.

Celly Smunt

Damage done to party.
Election upcoming.
Huge Turkish population in said country.
Promise something short term that will never come to fruition.
Gain Turkish vote.


Nope makes no sense to me...