Betty opined;
> Don't worry John, Bates yet again misses the point, the reason for not > letting Turkey into any reasonable group of people (and who says the > EU > is) is because of the way the Turks treat the Kurds and any one else > who disagrees with their government post Kemal Atuturk. and as you would expect turkey has been changing its laws wholesale in order to be able to join the EU, that's the whole point of including more countries as it has a democratising effect. Of course it's not perfect, like Greece it was a military dictatorship a couple of decades ago, but it is a functioning democracy, gone are the days of intellectuals and opponents disappearing in the back of an army truck and never being seen again. Hungary, Romania Bulgaria et al were allowed in despite their continuing pogroms against Roma and other ethnic groups, but they are far better than they were in Warsaw pact days. The main founding purpose of the EU is to bring closer cooperation and avoid wars, a job it has done brilliantly over the last 60 years. The issue with the Kurds is a still a desperate problem but their best hope is a Turkey in the EU. with Turkish nationalism constrained by the laws of the EU and the effect of integration of its peoples with the rest of the EU's. ttfn Richard _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist and the hardest time in a sailor's day is to watch the sun as it sails away
