From: Ad 

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=20615

My my....a central plank of the US's policy in the near east.....looks like
whithering...

"Throughout the campaign, Sarkozy’s opposition to Turkey’s EU
membership has been blunt, categorical and frequently repeated. Turkey, he
says, is not a European country. It lies in Asia Minor. Its entry into the
Union would reduce the EU to a mere trading bloc, robbing it of political
clout. It would prevent the emergence of a political Europe -- that is to
say a politically cohesive continent able to make its voice heard in the
world, on par with the United States, China, Russia, India and other
emerging powers.

Sarkozy’s political objections to Turkey’s membership have been reinforced
by an apparent concern for France’s cultural identity. He has made little
effort to conceal his distaste at the thought of Europe being swamped by a
Muslim country of over 70 million people, 40 per cent of whom are under the
age of fifteen.

As Minister of Interior for the past four years, Sarkozy’s restrictive
policy on immigration -- essentially from North Africa and Black Africa
-- strongly suggests that he believes there are already enough Muslims
in France, without an influx of Turks."

Just like Michael Howard.....one a child of Romanian Jewish immigrants
& the other a child of a greek jewish mother & a hungarian father.

I wonder to what degree Sarkozy's views are based upon the greek side of his lineage.

"Both candidates -- but especially Sarkozy -- have shown a woeful
insensitivity, if not outright ignorance, of the impact of their policies
on Turkish opinion, already deeply offended by European hesitations. A
rejection by Europe will have adverse consequences for Turkish domestic and
foreign policy; for Turkey’s neighbours -- Iraq, Iran and Syria -- and for
such unresolved conflicts as those between Israel and the Palestinians and
between the Greek and Turkish parts of Cyprus."

Indeed. & which country is the ringmaster in that area.....?

"Surprisingly, issues of foreign policy were almost totally absent
from the contest for the French presidency, with both candidates evidently
more at ease debating such questions as unemployment, health care,
pensions, and law and order."


Good Lord an election based on domestic economic concerns. How odd.



Adam

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