"Philip Stephens: Turkey cannot be wished away
By Philip Stephens
Published: September 1 2005 20:24 | Last updated: September 1 2005 20:24
Philip StephensThe response in much of Europe to the demise of the European Union’s constitutional treaty has been to blame the world beyond. The continent’s own leaders could not be held responsible for popular discontent. Globalisation was the culprit. Europe’s citizens were hapless victims of the rapacious advance of Anglo-American capitalism.
It was as depressing as it was predictable that this first spasm in response to the treaty’s rejection in France and the Netherlands would be succeeded by calls for a halt to the Union’s expansion. If French voters were living in fear of losing their livelihoods to Polish plumbers and the impeccably liberal Dutch were running scared of Islam, how could politicians contemplate a new influx of Croatian electricians and Turkish carpenters?"
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