Originele OP van deel I:
Obama: "Turkije moet bij EU"quote:
Paris, Berlin bristle as Obama backs Turkey for EU
Sun Apr 5, 2009 11:40am EDT
By Kerstin Gemhlich and Mark John
PRAGUE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama urged the European Union on Sunday to accept Turkey as a full member of the 27-nation bloc, in remarks rejected outright by France and met coolly by Germany.
The disagreement was a rare outward sign of divergence at an EU-U.S. summit stage-managed to relaunch transatlantic ties that were strained under the Bush administration and which both sides are now eager to mend.
"The United States and Europe must approach Muslims as our friends, neighbors and partners in fighting injustice, intolerance and violence, forging a relationship based on mutual respect and mutual interests," Obama told the summit.
"Moving forward toward Turkish membership in the EU would be an important signal of your (EU) commitment to this agenda and ensure that we continue to anchor Turkey firmly in Europe," he told EU leaders.
Turkey has long been seeking to join the bloc, and Obama's comments were a reaffirmation of U.S. support for that goal.
But there is resistance among EU states such as Germany and France to its membership, including among ruling conservatives.
Sarkozy said it was up to the EU member states to decide on Turkish entry and reiterated his opposition. "I have always been opposed to this entry," he told France's TF1 television.
"I still am and I think I can say that the immense majority of member states shares the position of France," he said.
"Turkey is a very great country, an ally of Europe, an ally of the United States. It will stay a privileged partner. My position hasn't changed and it won't change," he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was clearly in the interest of all to forge ties between the EU and the Muslim world, but asked to comment directly on Obama's remarks, she noted only: "It's clear there are different opinions."
Merkel said the form of any future connection between the EU and Turkey was still not clear, a reference to the possibility of a privileged partnership stopping short of actual membership -- a formula favored by French and German conservatives.
ENERGY HUB
Turkish entry talks with the EU have been held up by European concerns over human rights, a perceived lack of progress on reforms, and by a long territorial dispute with EU member Cyprus. Membership is seen many years off at best.
Successive U.S. administrations have seen EU membership for Turkey as a way of further binding into the West a NATO member positioned strategically as a key energy hub between Europe and valuable energy resources in the Caspian Sea and beyond.
The European Commission, which as the EU executive is responsible for handling negotiations with Ankara, welcomed Obama's comments.
"We have started a process of negotiations with Turkey for membership," Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said, pointedly referring to the fact that the terms of negotiation point toward membership rather than any lower level of ties.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he also backed Obama's support for EU membership for Turkey, telling reporters he was confident that current obstacles holding back Ankara's talks with Brussels could be solved.
Liever geen Moslim-gebash in dit topic. We hebben hier een interessante discussie over wat de EU zou moeten zijn, of kan worden.
We zijn het er, geloof ik, allemaal wel over eens dat het niet aan Obama is om te bepalen wie er in aanmerking komt voor lidmaatschap van de EU. Dat is iets wat de EU zelf, en haar burgers, zou moeten bepalen. Maar dat hij een grote politieke invloed heeft, staat buiten twijfel.
quote:
Op maandag 6 april 2009 21:46 schreef katerwater het volgende:[..]
Anno 2009 zou ik zeggen van wel.
Zeg eens: hoe voel jij je verbonden met een Armenier of Georgier?
Ik voel me meer verbonden met Turkije.
Is verbondenheid een criterium volgens jou?
SCH vindt van wel, in die zin dat het land wel ' iets' met europa te maken moet hebben.
Zelf ben ik er niet helemaal uit. Want zaken als ' wat is europees', ' wat is die verbondenheid' dan precies, zijn voor mij nog subjectief en te vaag. Te veel op gevoel gebaseerd. Vandaar dat ik ook doorvroeg of ieder land toe zou mogen treden (mits ze voldoen aan de gestelde criteria).
Vandaar dat ik het mij makkelijk maak door te stellen dat Turkije niet geheel op europees grondgebied ligt...
Maar ergens hebben veel posters in dit topic toch een soort gevoel over wat Europees is, of wat die verbondenheid dan precies is...
Het lijkt me ook moeilijk om dat in criteria te kunnen vangen. M.i. heeft het dus wel degelijk iets met ' cultuur' te maken.
[ Bericht 0% gewijzigd door capricia op 06-04-2009 22:15:53 ]
"People that use Fiat currency as a store of value.
There is a name for it:
We call them Poor"