Cengiz Aktar spécialiste des questions européennes, professeur à l’université Bahçesehir (Istanbul).
En juin, la France met son veto à l’ouverture de l’un de ces chapitres, portant sur l’euro. L’ouverture d’autres chapitres est conditionnée à la création d’un comité des sages pour réfléchir au futur de l’Union. Comble de tout, la France demande en novembre le report de la Saison culturelle de Turquie prévue pour juin 2009, pour cause d’élections européennes. Pas de Turcs dans nos pattes ! A Bruxelles, le représentant de la France chipote sur les termes consacrés du jargon européen, comme «partenariat d’adhésion», en fait sur tout ce qui évoque l’adhésion. D’issue improbable, ces tentatives causent en revanche des préjudices irréparables aux relations franco-turques.
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Non, le choix de Sarkozy, c’est bêtement de prévenir que la Turquie et ce qu’elle représente ne viennent souiller l’idée qu’il a de l’Europe et de la France : une Europe, entre autres, «amusulmane» et française. On murmure qu’il serait tenté de faire un tour en Turquie. Je ne sais si les Turcs auront la mansuétude des Algériens pour écouter son franc-parler, qui flirte si souvent avec l’arrogance.
Le débat autour de la Turquie, qui commence à peine, est trop grave pour être abandonné au président Sarkozy. Assurons-nous qu’il pourra se poursuivre sainement, pour le bénéfice de tous.
by SAMİ KOHEN, MİLLİYET
The problem with the EU does not only stem from the fact that certain phrases are used or not used in an attempt to disturb Turkey.
Reuters, 6 décembre 2007
par Paul Taylor et Yves Clarisse, Bruxelles
Une bataille de mots oppose en ce moment la France et plusieurs de ses partenaires européens sur la Turquie, Paris voulant éviter les formules qui ouvrent une véritable perspective d’adhésion à Ankara.
A new slap for Turkey
In an immediate reaction to the removal of the terms “accession” and “Turkey's membership” from a European Union document, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan ruled out yesterday the possibility of
European Union foreign ministers met in Brussels yesterday to finalize the draft conclusions for the European Council due Friday. There has been fierce discussion over the part on Turkey since last
Three years ago, after two days of nerve-wrecking negotiations and political brinkmanship, European Union heads of state agreed that Turkey had sufficiently fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria to be able to open accession negotiations.
There seems to be a bad omen in Turkey’s aspirations to be -- in a remote future -- a member of the European Union. As the country struggles against all odds to push itself through with hard-fought reforms, nasty obstacles line up, as if in a PSP game.
"Turkish Comments on EU December 11, 2007 · No Comments TUSIAD’s comments on a change of wording in the European Council conclusions following the French objections to the use “accession” term."
It’s said about policemen but it’s also true for suicide bombers. A nation gets the ones it deserves. Perhaps the nicest thing I read about Afghanistan recently is the suggestion made on the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation Web site that Afghans are culturally inept -- just too decent -- when it comes to blowing themselves up.
It was surprising to witness that the public was amazed by the recent information revealed in the case of the killing of Christian missionaries in Malatya.
The prosecutor sues the 7 journalist who covered the scandal and Radikal sums up the scandal like situation.
by SOLİ ÖZEL, SABAH
The government is facing serious scrutiny in the cases of Father Santoro, Hrant Dink and Malatya. Inconceivable scandals have surfaced as the investigation into the killings of three Christians in a publishing house in the southeastern province of Malatya deepens.
by Hans A.H.C. de Wit
The German Sculptor, Olaf Metzel, made this sculptor and called it 'Turkish Delight'. And its placed the campus of an university in Vienna, Austria.
Personally, it not my taste, but I don't see that this sculpture has to be removed what several Austrian citizens of Turkish decent asked for. Is it insulting? No, in my opinion. Can you be offended by this? I really don't know. But there is a fine line between insulting and feeling offended.
Continue reading ""Nicolas et les Turcs" »
Philip Robins, a leading foreign affairs expert, says the Turkish government is unlikely to move forward with vital issues -- such as accession negotiations with the European Union and a solution to the Cyprus problem, an essential prerequisite for Turkish EU membership -- as a closure case pending against the ruling party has been limiting its abilities.
Paul Luif, a senior researcher from the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP), has conducted an interesting study on EU foreign policy, finding that Turkey's decisions on most issues of foreign policy are in line with the EU majority.
