The EU, the USA and Turkey

Submitted by Italian (Netherlands), May 11, 2007 at 08:10

Dear Mr. Pipes,

I read your interview on the first Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera a couple of weeks ago and I am happy that you have changed your mind about the accession of Turkey to EU, now you are against it.

I am a friend of the United States, I am for a strengthening of political and economical relations between the USA and Europe, and as a friend I believe I am entitled to quote the words of the French new president Nicolas Sarkozy: "Being friends does not mean that you should always agree with each other".

I know very well that it was because of the extremely strong pressure from the USA (and from Israel) that the accession talks between Turkey and the EU started at the end of 2005.

Well, these negotiations are absolutely premature, Turkey has too many problems, maybe the negotiations could have started in fifty years.

I do not know which are all the arguments why the United States pushed so hard for the accession of Turkey to the EU. One main reason will certainly be the idea of helping the democratization and the stabilization of Turkey. But a hidden reason may be that of torpedoing the slow advancement of a political European Union. Well, this may be a very short-sighted strategical target.

And a Europe with a growing and growing muslim population may not be on the long run in the strategical interest of the United States.

A PROVOCATION:

If the United States are so keen in helping from the outside the democratization of Turkey why don't they offer Turkey to become the 51. State of the USA? How would the American people react to the immigration of about one million persons each year from Turkey, some of them good people, the others not? That's the potential for emigration from Turkey, and they have at the moment a fertility rate of about 2,5 children per woman.

It appears that you have some problems with the latinos. Why don't we make a deal, why don't we swap the latinos with the Turks? In Europe and, in particular, in latin Europe, we would have very few problems in integrating the latinos.

Turning serious again, don't you think, Mr. Pipes, that fostering the immigration to Europe from latin American countries would be in the strategical interest of the United States? You already have about 36 millions of latinos in the USA, if there were more people of latinos origin in Europe wouldn't this contribute to strengthen the ties between Europe and the USA in a very natural way?

I would be happy if you, Mr. Pipes, or any other American, would answer to some of the poins of my intervention.

Best regards from Italy.

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