I told you, I told you about Turkey.
Welcome, welcome to the theatre of ‘I told you so’!
In my previous post on Brexit, I said:
Majorityrights / Kumiko Oumae, ‘The coming battle over the meaning of Brexit.’, 26 Jun 2016 (emphasis added):
The European Union’s leaders really don’t want to sacrifice their mass migration agenda or their austerity agenda in order to save the union itself. They want to have their cake and eat it, and the only way they can do that is to try to convince the broad mass of the European population that the root problem is somehow actually the opposite of what it really is.
So instead, everyone will be told that somehow the reason for Brexit is because the EU itself somehow stoked ‘Islamophobic tendencies’ by implicitly approving of [those tendencies]—astonishingly—because it somehow didn’t prostrate itself to the needs and concerns of Turks as well as Arabs and North Africans quite enough for their liking, and that by not prostrating itself it somehow gave the signal that it was okay to not prostrate oneself, which somehow led to Brexit.
Sounds impossible? Oh, it’s possible. [...]
Today:
Sky News, ‘Turkey And EU Begin Brussels Accession Talks’, 30 Jun 2016 (emphasis added):
A senior Turkish politician has said right-wing extremism is threatening “European civilisation” and that following Brexit, the EU needs a “fresh start with a fresh vision”, which must include Turkey.
Omer Celik, Turkey’s chief negotiator in the process of the country’s proposed accession to the EU, also condemned the “anti-Turkish sentiments” expressed during the recent referendum campaign.
He was speaking at a media conference in Brussels following a meeting between EU officials and a delegation from Turkey that also included the country’s foreign, finance and justice ministers.
The substance of the meeting was the opening of the latest phase of convergence reforms, known as ‘chapters’, that a state must fulfil before accession to the EU.
So far, of the 35 chapters that must be completed and ratified, 16 have been opened but only one - on science research - has been closed.
During the media conference, the Turkish delegation exchanged polite, but pointed barbs with EU officials.
Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders and EU commissioner Johannes Hahn both called on Turkey to address concerns over “short-comings” on human rights, the rule of law, freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, indicating these were major sticking points to progress.
Mr Celik responded by saying it was Europe - not just Turkey - that needed to change.
“Without sorting out its problems it cannot give hope to its members or its neighbours… it needs a fresh start with a fresh vision. Such a start will have to include Turkey,” he said.
“There are extreme right wing movements, there is anti-semitism and racism. These are the main threats against European civilisation,” Mr Celik added.
Turkey joining the EU became a major topic of debate in the UK referendum, with the Leave campaign regularly voicing their alarm about the prospect of visa-free travel for “79 million” Turkish citizens - a point dismissed by David Cameron and Remain campaigners, who insisted that Turkey was “decades” away from joining.
Mr Celik condemned the tone of the debate in the UK, saying anti-Turkish rhetoric masked deeper problems across Europe.
“The extreme right are expressing themselves with anti-Turkish sentiment but these are all products of the same mentality,” he said.
“The mainstream politics should stand up to this, not be weakened in the face of the extremist movements.
“When mainstream parties use these arguments against Turkey, they are making a mistake, they have to take responsibility, they have to stop this tendency.”
No. We won’t stop saying unkind things about Turkey. Not ever.
Posted by Ryan on Thu, 30 Jun 2016 20:44 | #
I can’t find the quote but there is something out there where the Turkish Prime Minister (not Erdogan) says that the visa free travel to Europe is “the will of Allah”. Supporting open borders in Europe to further the Turkish governments thirst for power as well as getting rid of the Kurdish problem through emigration.
Rather telling how Turkey is signalling about ‘anti-semitism’ when domestically Erdogan and his party rely on dog whistling, anti-Israel rhetoric to retain the loyalty of the pro-Palestinian Muslim majority. Saying one thing to one group then something else to the other. Turkish government signals about ‘xenophobia’ but it they who booted the Syrians out of the refugee camps and onto Europe where they became economic migrants hopping country to country.