Talking Turkey
December 11, 2004
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It has been a long time coming, but the doors to Europe appear to be opening for 70 million Turks, writes Peter Fray.
Politicians don't come much more surprising - or anxious - than Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Having served a jail term eight years ago for inciting religious hatred, he has re-invented himself, his Islamic-based party and his nation.
After 40 years of courtship, Turkey, once better known for its torture of prisoners and undue political influence of its generals, is now on the point of acceptance by the European Union. But, within days of the EU deciding whether and when it will start talks aimed at Turkey's accession, ominous signs are gathering that might frustrate Erdogan's political gymnastics.
The problem isn't so much with Turkey, which has undergone a radical reform of its economy, police, judiciary and human rights - especially its treatment of the Kurds - but with western Europe.
Europe, it seems, has only just woken up to the implications of more than 70 million Muslims - 95 per cent of whom live in Asia - joining what some still prefer to see as a solely Western, if not Christian club.
Talking Turkey
