Job Discussion Forums

[ghost]

Turkey has tried hard to fulfil the concessions demanded by the European club authorities, but still Turkey appears to be slipping further and further away from actually getting close to a future membership deal.

Turkey made concessions in Cyprus. Turkey made concessions with regard to letting the Kurds maintain their language and customs. Turkey made concessions with regard to other aspects of Islam vis a vis Europe, but still Europe is still not satisfied...and one really wonders whether the whole thing is a game.....and that the real reasons behind the continuing delays are political rather than practical.

When one looks at countries like Romania and Bulgaria being given the ``green light`` to join the Euro. club in 2007, it is rather sad, because if you compare Turkey with those two countries (Romania and Bulgaria), Turkey appears to be far in advance of those two with regard to infrastructure, business and other aspects of the economy.

One feels sorry for Turkey, and the impression is that the Turkey is being played with......they fulfil conditions, but then the Euro. leaders say...``ok, that is ok, but you still have not done this or that.....`` there is a never ending list of things to concede to, and at the end of the day, Turkey is being taken for a ride which is not constructive.

As far as teachers on this forum are concerned, they (the teachers) can perhaps be thankful that Turkey stays where it is, because if Turkey joins, then prices and cost of living will inevitably go upwards, but corresponding salaries will not do so, making the sweet deal of decent living and cheap costs in Turkey no longer a reality. So from purely selfish interests, EFL teachers and backpackers in Turkey have nothing to worry about. But for the Turks themselves, the whole debate is becoming something of a farce, and very tiresome.

ghost

[ElizabethBennett]

I suppose they are too strongly restrictive of freedom of speech for the EU in the end. I would actually prefer not to be in a Union with a country that visited such a harsh penalty for proselytisation, proselytising (help me, Furious) as the one you mentioned in the previous post about the Christians. The EU, quite rightly, allows Muslims to carry out their missionary work in countries like the UK and to be fair it needs to continue to let the Christians do the same. (I am glad the recent British Airways ban on the staff member wearing a cross was reversed this week after protests from various MPs etc). But I can't imagine Turkey ever joining such a 'tolerant' Union.

[dmb]

Funny how Bulgaria �nd Romania are joining. I found them to be alot cheaper than Turkey.

[Otterman Ollie]

Ghost,noone was ever going to say that this journey was going to be an easy one ,infact most of the obstacles they are going to encounter are just that, obstacles .Comparing it to Bulgaria or Romania is not really on pears and apples and all that .In the end they (Europe) canot afford to let Turkey slip away .The country is too important for a great number of reasons ,the issue of Cyprus can be resolved overnight if the Greeks wanted it that way ,be it 10 or 20 years Turkey WİLL get in .