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THE POPE IS RIGHT: LET TURKEY INTO THE EU
National Post (Canada)
November 29, 2006 Wednesday
Toronto Edition
Rarely do pontiffs create geopolitical sparks of the sort Pope
Benedict XVI set off yesterday during a visit to Turkey. According
to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Pope stated
that he now supports Turkey's bid to join the European Union --
a reversal from his pre-papal opposition to EU membership for the
largely Muslim country. The Pope also told the press: "The best way
forward is via authentic dialogue between Christians and Muslims,
based on truth and inspired by a sincere wish to know one another
better, respecting differences and recognizing what we have in common."
All these fine words may have been motivated by the Pope's desire
to mend fences in the wake of his controversial Sept. 12 speech,
which many Muslims believed contained a grave insult to Islam.
Nevertheless, the Pope's flip-flop on Turkey joining the EU is welcome.
Turkey is an officially secular nation. Indeed, it applies the division
between church and state more strictly than any Western country. It
is also a NATO member, a Western ally in the Middle East, a friend
to Israel and a loyal partner in the war against terrorism.
After over 40 years as an associate member of the European Union,
and with an improving human rights record, the country deserves an
opportunity for full membership.
That is not to say the Turks' membership application doesn't have
its blemishes. For instance, the country is maddeningly stubborn
in refusing to admit its genocidal treatment of Armenians during
the First World War. Ankara also has shown itself inflexible in its
quarrel with the EU over the status of Cyprus, itself an EU member.
In particular, Turkey refuses to trade with the Greek-speaking half
of the island. This, despite the fact that the EU made it clear more
than a year ago that ending this dispute would be a condition for
entering formal EU membership talks.
But such matters can be negotiated and should not be allowed to stand
in the way of cementing Turkey's place in the Western camp by allowing
it into the EU.
The Pope was correct when he told Prime Minister Erdogan that Turkey
is a bridge between religions and cultures. Now that so much of
the interaction between the Muslim world and the West has all the
appearances of a clash of civilizations, this is the sort of bridge
that Europe -- and the entire Western world -- very much needs.
National Post (Canada)
November 29, 2006 Wednesday
Toronto Edition
Rarely do pontiffs create geopolitical sparks of the sort Pope
Benedict XVI set off yesterday during a visit to Turkey. According
to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Pope stated
that he now supports Turkey's bid to join the European Union --
a reversal from his pre-papal opposition to EU membership for the
largely Muslim country. The Pope also told the press: "The best way
forward is via authentic dialogue between Christians and Muslims,
based on truth and inspired by a sincere wish to know one another
better, respecting differences and recognizing what we have in common."
All these fine words may have been motivated by the Pope's desire
to mend fences in the wake of his controversial Sept. 12 speech,
which many Muslims believed contained a grave insult to Islam.
Nevertheless, the Pope's flip-flop on Turkey joining the EU is welcome.
Turkey is an officially secular nation. Indeed, it applies the division
between church and state more strictly than any Western country. It
is also a NATO member, a Western ally in the Middle East, a friend
to Israel and a loyal partner in the war against terrorism.
After over 40 years as an associate member of the European Union,
and with an improving human rights record, the country deserves an
opportunity for full membership.
That is not to say the Turks' membership application doesn't have
its blemishes. For instance, the country is maddeningly stubborn
in refusing to admit its genocidal treatment of Armenians during
the First World War. Ankara also has shown itself inflexible in its
quarrel with the EU over the status of Cyprus, itself an EU member.
In particular, Turkey refuses to trade with the Greek-speaking half
of the island. This, despite the fact that the EU made it clear more
than a year ago that ending this dispute would be a condition for
entering formal EU membership talks.
But such matters can be negotiated and should not be allowed to stand
in the way of cementing Turkey's place in the Western camp by allowing
it into the EU.
The Pope was correct when he told Prime Minister Erdogan that Turkey
is a bridge between religions and cultures. Now that so much of
the interaction between the Muslim world and the West has all the
appearances of a clash of civilizations, this is the sort of bridge
that Europe -- and the entire Western world -- very much needs.