Paris and Berlin bristle as Obama backs Turkey for EU

Reuters ^ | 4/5/2009 | Kerstin Gemhlich and Mark John

[dajeeps]

“...[Turkey,] an ally of the United States...”

Depends on what day of the week it is, if even true anymore.

I thought Obama was supposed to be smoothing over relations with everyone, and all of the world would be throwing roses at our feet.

Perhaps he’s finding out that neutrality isn’t always the best? Of course, I could just be giving him undue credit for having some kind of rationale for his choices where there may really be none, or any that make any sense at all.

[Polybius]

agreed this is asinine, but to stay realistic. Obamas comments have as much impact on EU member politics as Europe's comments would have on afghanistan becoming a US state. result Zero... no one really cares because it´s none of our business. but to be somehow fair wanting turkey becoming a EU member has been the goal of US foreign politics for a long time. i don´t know why, but i remember bush saying the same thing about turkey and the EU. but then again this has really no impact on anything.

It has an impact on the credibility of the judgment of the U.S. You can't expect to be seen as a credible leader if you publicly play the part of the Fool.

Turkey and EU becomes the latest battleground for Chirac and Bush ...... Turkey's bid to join the European Union was at the centre of a new transatlantic rift yesterday, as the French president, Jacques Chirac, accused George Bush of meddling by supporting Turkey's push for membership. ...... M Chirac warned the US president to mind his own business and said Mr Bush had gone too far , when he said at the weekend that the US believed Turkey was ready to take up EU membership. "If President Bush really said that the way I read it, well, not only did he go too far but he went into territory which is not his own," M. Chirac said at a Nato summit in Istanbul. ..... Washington has a long-standing alliance with Turkey through Nato, but EU membership is in a different category since the countries inside the 25-nation bloc share legislative powers. An EU diplomat said: "It's one thing to be an ally in Nato, and something else to join the EU where we make laws together."

The idea is no less asinine if George W. Bush publicly proposes it.

It is NOT in the interests of the U.S. to have Turkey as an E.U. member so that the porous southern borders of Turkey can become the gateway into Western Europe for millions of Islamist radicals as easily as the porous southern border of the U.S. became the gateway into the U.S. for millions of, by comparison, relatively well-behaved Mexicans.

What is in the U.S. interest is to curry favor with the Turkish Government so that the Turkish Government will support U.S. interests. That, however, can be done in other ways besides publicly making a foreign policy fool out yourself and destroying U.S. credibility in Western Europe so that Western Europe does not support U.S. interests.

[SharpRightTurn]

“The United States and Europe must approach Muslims as our friends, neighbours and partners in fighting injustice, intolerance and violence, forging a relationship based on mutual respect and mutual interests,” Obama told the summit.

Hopefully, this idiot’s support of the further overrunning of Europe with Muslims will incense enough Europeans to lead them to reject Turkey’s admission into the EU. If Turkey is admitted, it will accelerate the slow death of Europe.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Yes, let’s admit Turkey into the EU so all its radical muslims can go whizzing across the open borders to colonize the rest of the region. /s

[Condor51]

Since the furthest part of the Western border of Turkey is only 153 (+/-) miles 'in the continent of Europe', I don't think they should be allowed into the EU.

If the Turks are so gung-ho about joining something they can start an AU - Asian Union and be a Charter Member. /s

[SunkenCiv]

additional:

Leave Turkey’s bid to join EU to us, Nicolas Sarkozy warns Barack Obama
TIMES ONLINE | April 6, 2009 | David Charter in Prague
Posted on 04/05/2009 7:54:37 PM PDT by Cincinna
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2223053/posts

[spectre]

Obama just praised Ataturk to the Turkish Parliament.

Ataturk was a cruel Socialist Dictator who modeled the country after Stalin.

Unbelievable.

sw

[Polybius]

Obama just praised Ataturk to the Turkish Parliament. Ataturk was a cruel Socialist Dictator who modeled the country after Stalin. Unbelievable. sw

Ataturk dragged the Ottoman Empire, kicking and screaming, into the 20th Century.

Ataturk made Turkey a secular republic and battled against political Islam a full 80 years before most of America knew what an "Islamist" was.

He replaced the Arabic script with the Latin alphabet, replaced Islamic courts with a secular civil code based on the Swiss model and a penal code based on that of Italy, and he looked to Western universities as models.

What made modern Turkey the only majority Muslim country in the World that is not, today, totally mired in the backwardness of Islam?

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Did Ataturk maintain cordial relations with the Soviet Union?

Yes, he did. When you live right next door to the 800 pound gorilla, it is only prudent to smile at him.

However, Ataturk did not accept Soviet Communism.

"Friendship with Russia is not to adopt their ideology of communism for Turkey." "Communism is a social issue. Social conditions, religion, and national traditions of our country confirm the opinion that Russian Communism is not applicable in Turkey." ..... Ataturk

Ataturk's influences were Western ..... Not Soviet.

[silverleaf]

maybe obama the sage and saviour of the world should offer to make them our 58th state, instead

[Jonny foreigner]

Since the furthest part of the Western border of Turkey is only 153 (+/-) miles ‘in the continent of Europe’, I don’t think they should be allowed into the EU.
If the Turks are so gung-ho about joining something they can start an AU - Asian Union and be a Charter Member. /s

---

agreed beside the fact that turkey is hardly (only a few square miles belong to the continent of Europe) a European country, the more important fact is that turkey culturally and socially shares little to nothing with other European countries. it may be a Nato ally for strategic reasons in this region but should and hopefully will never be admitted to EU. But again it´s not even likely that turkey has only a serious change to be admited to EU. You would have to kick out countries like austria before you could only think about turkey becomming a member (because for example austria allready said (years before) that it would veto turkey forever even if they would stand alone on this “btw. they don´t stand alone if we talk about turkey”.

[eureka!]

""The United States and Europe must approach Muslims as our friends, neighbours and partners in fighting injustice, intolerance and violence, forging a relationship based on mutual respect and mutual interests," Obama told the summit."

Sarkozy should invite 0bama to a visit to a couple of the cites outside Paris and then a Car-B-Q. Then let Michelle take a sleeveless walk in the neighborhoods...

[beagleone]

When he bowed before the Saudi king I threw up in my mouth a little.
Another low point in a neverending series of low points in the American presidency.

[beagleone]

Obama and Turkey. The words do go together so well.