"Turkey still has much that it can teach Europe
By Nur Yalman
Published: December 6 2004 02:00 | Last updated: December 6 2004 02:00
From Prof Nur Yalman.
Sir, Valery Giscard d'Estaing has again indicated his opposition to the entry of Turkey to the EU on the grounds that it has not known the Greek and Roman heritage, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, or even rational and scientific thought ('A better European bridge to Turkey', November 25).
Could a past president of France be so ignorant as to forget the role of Islamic scholars in the transfer of classical learning to the west? Is he unaware of the close links between France and Turkey in the aftermath of the French revolution when, in 1793, a certain citizen Descroches (later the Marquis de Sainte-Croix) arrived in Istanbul as emissary of the Republic, celebrated the new republican flag with a salute from French ships and proceeded to plant 'a tree of liberty'."
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