What about Turkey

I have become aware of a campaign against the membership of Turkey in the EU. The campaign is called a Voice for Europe.

The Voice for Europe Campaign is a Europe-wide petition campaign against the accession of Turkey to the European Union. The aim is to block the start of the accession talks in October this year.

There are those among the Eurosceptics who are also against the idea of Turkish membership. I am not one of them. Whilst I hope for Turkey’s sake that they fail to get in, for our sake I most definitely want the talks to go ahead. Why?

1. If Turkey gets into the EU, federalism is dead for sure. The Turks will never accept it.
2. Turkey will be an awkward customer and will scupper lots of regulations.
3. It will definitely kill the CAP. Turkey has huge numbers of peasants who would love some EU largesse. That is just not economically feasible.
4. Continued negotiation is having a positive impact on Turkey’s democracy. Issues that were totally taboo just 5 years ago are now openly discussed in the media.
5. The Turkey issue is increasing the level of Euroscepticism in Europe as a whole. The issue must not be removed from the mix. The more questions being asked about one issue, the more will be asked about all issues.
6. Then of course, who is most against? The French, who else. Its worth supporting Turkey just to upset them, isn’t it?

So I for one will not be adding my name to their petition.