The Dec. 23 editorial “Europe blows it big with Turkey” reflects an opinion that is based exclusively on U.S. strategic and economic interests while ignoring Europe’s interests and the reality of Turkey.
While acknowledging that human-rights abuses were a factor in the European Union’s decision, your editorial lists Turkey’s problems with Greece as “less high minded.” How would we as Americans feel if our neighbor Mexico or Cuba invaded portions of our territory, persecuted our people and uprooted them from their historic homes? Yet in the last few years Turkey has invaded Greek islands that are internationally recognized as part of Greece, allowed and encouraged persecution of Greek Orthodox in Constantinople and, most egregiously, ignored all United Nations resolutions with regard to its illegal occupation of Cyprus, where two young Greeks were beaten to death by Turkish authorities in 1996. How dare the Tribune list such atrocities and flouting of international law as “less high minded”?
The EU was correct in its decision. Turkey has always held the key to its admission to the EU, but it has done nothing to curb its behavior toward EU member Greece or its persecution of the Kurds. Turkey believes it should enjoy the rights of EU membership without paying the price of admission: respecting international law and vastly improving its human rights.
Rather than putting the blame on the EU, why not ask what has Turkey done to rectify these problems, which the EU has reasonably set as preconditions to admission?
