Saturday, April 28, 2007
Dodgy EU officials warn Turkish Military: Stay Out of Politics
A European Union official has warned Turkey's military to stay out of politics after it expressed concern about the election of a new president. Olli Rehn, the EU expansion affairs commissioner said Saturday that the election was a "test case" for the Turkish military's respect for democracy.
Turkey was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a military general, in what had been the Ottoman Sultanate.
Ataturk was determined that this mainly Muslim nation would be a modern, secular country, and he introduced wide-ranging reforms, including the emancipation of women, the introduction of western dress, legal code and alphabet, and the abolition of Islamic institutions.
Turkey's ruling elite and the powerful military have seen it as their job to protect what Ataturk set up. The staunchly secular elite of Turkey believes a president whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf would have Ataturk turning in his grave.
The military statement listed a series of public events where it said Islam had encroached on secular traditions. It also expressed concern over the brutal slayings of three Christians in the eastern city of Malatya earlier this month.
IMO: I agree with the Ataturk viewpoint and certainly not with some dodgy Brussels Eurocrat who could soon lose his job. But, it confirms my sentiments that Turkey is a long way from being an appropriate member of the EU yet. This would be NEVER AT ANY PRICE, if some unreasonable Islamists have their way. Not what I want. The whole matter is beginning to confirm suspicions that the EU is not up to its task, and needs a lot of improvement. Most of the people in (for example) the UK, France and Holland do not like the EU in its present form, AFAIK. If incompetence continues to rule in the EU, people may vote with their feet. After two Franco-German wars on a world scale, it will be with reluctance.
Turkey was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a military general, in what had been the Ottoman Sultanate.
Ataturk was determined that this mainly Muslim nation would be a modern, secular country, and he introduced wide-ranging reforms, including the emancipation of women, the introduction of western dress, legal code and alphabet, and the abolition of Islamic institutions.
Turkey's ruling elite and the powerful military have seen it as their job to protect what Ataturk set up. The staunchly secular elite of Turkey believes a president whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf would have Ataturk turning in his grave.
The military statement listed a series of public events where it said Islam had encroached on secular traditions. It also expressed concern over the brutal slayings of three Christians in the eastern city of Malatya earlier this month.
IMO: I agree with the Ataturk viewpoint and certainly not with some dodgy Brussels Eurocrat who could soon lose his job. But, it confirms my sentiments that Turkey is a long way from being an appropriate member of the EU yet. This would be NEVER AT ANY PRICE, if some unreasonable Islamists have their way. Not what I want. The whole matter is beginning to confirm suspicions that the EU is not up to its task, and needs a lot of improvement. Most of the people in (for example) the UK, France and Holland do not like the EU in its present form, AFAIK. If incompetence continues to rule in the EU, people may vote with their feet. After two Franco-German wars on a world scale, it will be with reluctance.
# posted by uv : 6:12 AM
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