first, thanks for the very

fake consultant — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:20:07 -0600

first, thanks for the very kind words...

...but to offer a response, i suspect the same issues that affect internal politics in the countries you named also drive the decisions regarding their relationship with turkey...and to the extent that is true, it may be that an economically prosperous turkey that's seen as reasonably transparent and under the rule of law (no more coups...) might be the only turkey that gains accession.

in today's environment, that's a condition no single party seems able to acheive.

Thanks for this excellent

Jacob Freeze — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:49:21 -0600

Thanks for this excellent survey of the constitutional crisis in Turkey!

It's also worth remembering that Turkey has virtually no chance of joining the EU in the foreseeable future, no matter how the ruling about the AKP comes down. Turkish membership would require majority approval by referendum in all current member nations, and public opinion is dead set against it almost everywhere except in England:

In Austria, opponents of Turkey’s membership out-number supporters 80 per cent to 10 per cent. Opposition is 74 per cent in Germany, 72 per cent in Luxembourg and 70 per cent in France and Greece.

Diatribune - Turkey - Comments

first, thanks for the very

Thanks for this excellent