An FT email reports this morning that:
EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said Turkey is in no position to become a member any time soon.
I think this might be considered a massive understatement.
Turkey is heading into totalitarianism. Juncker should have been saying so and condemning it.
Coup or not the reaction to what has happened in Turkey is deeply troubling for everyone in Europe. At a time when the world needs tolerance and democracy the spread of intolerance is a real threat.
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Regardless, the fact remains that from an extraEU immigration viewpoint the whole European situation is irretrievable and terminal. Whether in Eu/eurozone or not there is not one jurisdiction with the possibke exception of Hungary which is prepared to actively control the inward onslaught.
It is clear no national administration nor Brussels seem to understand the long term consequences neither do they have a plan for effective recording and control. If nationsl Govts do not see the direction of travel by the almost daily atrocities carried out in Europe nor realise the gargantuan expense involved in funding the security services merely to keep the lid on a losing battle then their poltical myopia is beyond salvation.
Realpolitik means he has to give himself wiggle room.
If the Erdogan regime decides not to play friendly on the refugee issue and pushes a greater proportion towards Greece (the country that can least afford to deal with it), the EU stands a decent chance of a major fracture, and I think Juncker knows it.
It’s a dreadful bind to be in, but as history teaches, binary yes or no choices frequently create bigger problems down the line.
History has shown that our Establishment will not condemn Erdogan as a fascist in his neo-Ottoman project; our Establishment will seek to gain advantage, to the detriment of Turkish citizens. I had a communication a couple of months ago from a past Turkish collaborator asking for “assistance”. I can now see why, *** will be stuck inside Turkey or has even been thrown out of *** university faculty position. Turkey’s citizens have been waiting for Erdogan to strike, was the coup plan or assisted to promote Erdogan’s ambitions.
The name ‘Juncker’ apparently means ‘young lord’ – obviously Jean-claude lacks the experience to identify the Turkish problem effectively.
If politicians stick in a job for too long power tends to go to their heads. I think we are seeing that with Erdogan. The EU is in no position to change this reality.
On a related note, he may have a viable complaint about insufficient funds flowing from the EU to Turkey to deal refugees. However, one has to ask oneself is he part of the problem (rather than part of the solution) with respect to the on-going Syrian disasater. The EU is in a lose lose situation here & it has very little to do with personalities (e.g. Juncker). At the moment, Erdogan has control of the refugee tap. So all the clever people critcising Juncker – what would you do in his position? Cut funds for refugees? Tell Erdogan he is a naughty boy? what?