Sign up to get Today’s Best Articles in your inbox
Join 350,000+ subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of
The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
“Turkey’s E.U. dream is over,” said Bekir Coskun in Istanbul’s Hurriyet. The French and Dutch rejection of the E.U. constitution was unmistakably a rejection of the prospect of Turkish E.U. membership. And we have only ourselves to blame. In 2002, Turkish voters had a crucial choice between “joining the Western civilization as a democratic, contemporary country” or reverting to the past. We chose the past. We elected an overtly Islamic party to lead the government. For the past two years, Europeans have seen the fruits of that government—more women wearing head scarves, a prime minister who speaks no European languages and talks about sharia. It doesn’t look like modern Turkey anymore, it “resembles Iran.” No wonder the French and Dutch—not to mention the Germans—don’t want us in their union. In a way, we rejected them first. Now “our dream of having a civilized society has collapsed.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
