Originally Posted by IrishTom

i think it is arrogant on your behalf to call french people racist just for wanting to preserve there own culture.

islam is a religion that openly encourages sectarianism
and as a result turkish people naturaly will not fit into european culture in any way, just look at germany which has a high level of turkish living there, they dont integrate, they little regard for the rule of Law, and they hole themselves up in turkish ghettos and hardly ever integrate.

is this what we realy want in Ireland...?

we face enough challenges in the future as it is with the already too high proportion of immigrants, we simply can not sustain another mass influx, it would be the final nail in the coffin for Ireland.

Originally Posted by Gadjodilo

you'd be hard put to find a more secular state than Turkey.

Originally Posted by Gadjodilo

Of course Turkey will have to adhere to wider EU standards. There's no suggestion that they'll be allowed to join without fulfilling all the chapters.

As regards separation of church and state, you'd be hard put to find a more secular state than Turkey. It's hilarious to see an Irish person lecturing the Turks on this issue.

Originally Posted by Ah Well

Wouldn't necessarily say that but the accession of Turkey as a full member (they are already an "associate member" will not happen anytime soon if ever

Turkey's accession talks have been dogged by a number of domestic and external problems. Several European states such as Austria have made their reluctance to allow Turkey into Europe clear. The issue of Cyprus continues to be a major obstacle to negotiations. European officials have commented on the slowdown in Turkish reforms which, combined with the Cyprus problem, has led previously to the EU’s enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn to warn of an impeding ‘train crash’ in negotiations with Turkey. Due to these setbacks, negotiations again came to a halt in December 2006, with the EU freezing talks in 8 of the 35 key areas under negotiation.

The earliest date that Turkey could enter the EU is 2013, the date when the next financial perspectives (the EU's six year budgetary perspectives) will come into force. Ankara is currently aiming to comply with EU law by this date, but Brussels has refused to back 2013 as a deadline. It is believed that the accession process will take at least until 2021 .... and that is IF accession actually does proceed to occur.

In addition to the Austrians, the French are very reluctant for Turkey's entry, evidenced by the OP and even by the remarks of French President Sarkozy in 2007 which were "enlarging Europe with no limit risks destroying European political union, and that I do not accept...I want to say that Europe must give itself borders, that not all countries have a vocation to become members of Europe, beginning with Turkey which has no place inside the European Union."

Forward track in time to Obama and his pro Turkey get into the EU stance

Originally Posted by Gadjodilo

I think you're doing a major disservice to French culture by suggesting it's so feeble and weak that the accession of one country to the EU will lead to its destruction!

As for Germany, do you not think that the lack of integration might be to do with German attitudes and the historical requirement that you needed to be of German blood to get citizenship?

Individual Moslems may encourage sectarianism but Islam does it no more than any other religion.

Originally Posted by Rocky

I would be in favour of eventual Turkish membership of the EU, I think it would make Europe a lot stronger politically and economically.

Originally Posted by Rocky

The army isn’t as strong as they once were, which is something

Originally Posted by Rocky

Cyprus is also a major issue and it can't be let in until that problem is solved.

Originally Posted by Trampas

Nonsense. The ruling AKP has deep roots in a banned islamist party. PM Erdogan has served a prison sentence for inciting religious hatred. President Gul's wife wears a headscarf
in public buildings. Mustapha Kemal's secular state is a memory.

Originally Posted by IrishTom

dont try to tell me what islam teaches, i have studied it and i know what the koran teaches and it is unlike anything else in existance in regards its demand for war and blood of the infidels.

the lack of integration is the turkish peoples choice not the germans, you seem to be very ignorant of the facts on every issue here, take your head out of the clouds and examine islaimc society in the world, then see if that fits in with western society norms.

Originally Posted by IrishTom

are you touched in the head or something..?

there has been a seperation of church and state in Ireland for decades now.
turkey is anything but secular, it is an islamic nation and an islamic society, this will not ever gel with the judeo-christian society we live in.

islam by its nature is a confrontational and sectarian religion, just look at what happened when that fella posted a drawing of mohammed in a news paper, he was killed, that carry on will never and should never be tolerated in a civilised society.