Walker's World: Turkey and the EU

United Press International - Intl. Intelligence

"Walker's World: Turkey and the EU
By MARTIN WALKER
UPI Editor Emeritus

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Since the end of the Cold War, Democratic and Republican presidents in the White House have firmly agreed that Turkey should be anchored into the West by being brought into the European Union. Former President Bill Clinton used to make a point of telephoning Greek and other premiers at EU summits to push the point, and both the current President George W. Bush and his father urged their European friends to 'look at the big picture.'

The big picture is important. The low European birth rate means they are short of energetic young workers whose taxes will pay the pensions of lots of European baby-boomers, and Turkey can help provide them. As a largely Muslim country that is also a secular democracy with a broadly improving record on human rights, Turkey can be the classic refutation of those glib theories about a looming clash of civilizations between the West and the rest."