Cyprus-Forum.com

[Big Al]

Firstly, thank you to everyone for their thoughts on the thread regarding a new flag and national anthem, it was great to see everyones opinion. I now have another topic which i would like to gauge members opinions.
Assuming these talks result in the unification of Cyprus (hypothetically), do you believe Cyprus and Greece would still try to derail Turkey's efforts to join the EU???
Keeping in mind that if Turkey were to become a member, its citizens will be able to travel, and live/work in Cyprus.
Lets forget the political answers and be as honest as possible.

[Piratis]

Big Al, the truth is that there is no chance that Turkey can become a full member of EU in the near future.

Cyprus would probably be the only safe country from being flooded by Turks, since in any unification agreement there will be an explicit restriction on the amount of Turks that can settle here. I suspect that in the case of unification Cyprus will be the biggest supporter of the Turkish EU accession. Firstly because we would have already made an agreement regarding the amount of Turks that can come here, secondly because Greek Cypriots will want Turkey to be under the EU and therefore less aggressive and less possible to create problems, and thirdly because of the TCs who will want Turkey in EU for obvious reasons.

But most of the rest of the EU countries will not accept Turkey in EU. Eastern Turkey has millions of poor Turks/Kurds who will no doubt flood the other EU countries if Turkey joins the EU. Those people not only they are poor, but unlike say the Eastern Europeans, they are much less educated, they are Muslim, and they are not really European so the other EU countries are afraid that those people not only they will move in EU by the millions, but due to their huge differences from the rest of the Europeans they will not be able to assimilate and blend in, somehting that can create ghettos and other problems.

Only if/when Turkey manages to bring the standards of its population (the whole of it, not just the western part) to a European level they will be allowed to join the EU.

I think the best Turkey can do now is to continue its accession process so EU can help Turkey to come to European standards. But this is somehting that will take several decades, and only if the Turks are willing to make the progress that is required. Meanwhile maybe some special status can be given to Turkey, somehting like "half-accession" which will not include the free movement part. But even for that to happen the Cyprus problem and the problems with Greece in Aegean need to be solved.

[Piratis]

And one more point:

Before anybody accuses the Europeans for not wanting to be flooded by Anatolian Turks, you should consider how many TCs think about the Settlers. Although the TCs and the Settlers share the same language and the same religion and supposedly the same ethnicity, and still many TCs think of themselves as very different from those Anatolians and find it impossible to blend in with them.

So you can imagine how it will be for the rest of the Europeans. Having a small number of Turkish immigrants is one thing and it doesn't bother most. Being flooded with millions of Anatolian Turks/Kurds is a different story thought.

[Big Al]

Big Al, the truth is that there is no chance that Turkey can become a full member of EU in the near future.

Cyprus would probably be the only safe country from being flooded by Turks, since in any unification agreement there will be an explicit restriction on the amount of Turks that can settle here. I suspect that in the case of unification Cyprus will be the biggest supporter of the Turkish EU accession. Firstly because we would have already made an agreement regarding the amount of Turks that can come here, secondly because Greek Cypriots will want Turkey to be under the EU and therefore less aggressive and less possible to create problems, and thirdly because of the TCs who will want Turkey in EU for obvious reasons.

But most of the rest of the EU countries will not accept Turkey in EU. Eastern Turkey has millions of poor Turks/Kurds who will no doubt flood the other EU countries if Turkey joins the EU. Those people not only they are poor, but unlike say the Eastern Europeans, they are much less educated, they are Muslim, and they are not really European so the other EU countries are afraid that those people not only they will move in EU by the millions, but due to their huge differences from the rest of the Europeans they will not be able to assimilate and blend in, somehting that can create ghettos and other problems.

Only if/when Turkey manages to bring the standards of its population (the whole of it, not just the western part) to a European level they will be allowed to join the EU.

I think the best Turkey can do now is to continue its accession process so EU can help Turkey to come to European standards. But this is somehting that will take several decades, and only if the Turks are willing to make the progress that is required. Meanwhile maybe some special status can be given to Turkey, somehting like "half-accession" which will not include the free movement part. But even for that to happen the Cyprus problem and the problems with Greece in Aegean need to be solved.

Thanks for you thoughts, all valid except being "muslim" shouldnt have any bearing on accession talks, thats called discrimination.

[BC Numismatics]

Al,
Turkey isn't a European country,but a Middle Eastern country.Albania,Bosnia-Hercegovina,& Kosovo have more chance of joining the European Union,as they are European countries even though they have Islamic majorities.

Aidan.

[Big Al]

Al,
Turkey isn't a European country,but a Middle Eastern country.Albania,Bosnia-Hercegovina,& Kosovo have more chance of joining the European Union,as they are European countries even though they have Islamic majorities.

Aidan.

Thanks Aidan, i was more interested in what GC forum members opinions were but thanks for your opinion.

[DT.]

Big Al, I'm pretty sure the membership will come under a certain amount of restrictions which include freedom of movement. Greece and Cyprus would be the last countries in the world to object to Turkey entering the EU. Having our Turkish neighbour playing under EU regulations would help diffuse a lot of problems in the area, not least the Aegean.

A problem free Cyprus on the other hand would I expect behave exactly like piratis said. A restriction on Turkish settlers due to the solution means Turkey in the EU is all good and no bad.

[Tim Drayton]

I look at the power game that has started in the Caucasus and think that the West will now do all it can to speed up Turkey's EU accession process. This will include removing the main sticking point of the Cyprus problem.

I wouldn't worry too much about the free movement of people. This is a big worry for Western Europe, and I can envisage Turkey being permitted to join the EU with various strings attached. Special transitional measures always apply when a country accedes. One of these may be a moritorium on the free movement of people for many years. This would also suit Turkey. It is a very nationalistic place and most Turkish citizens do not want nationals of other EU countries to be able to settle there freely and work or start businesses as they please.

[miltiades]

Cyprus joining the EU was the greatest ever event for our island , an event that will only be eclipsed by Turkeys' entry in to the EU .
As far as preconditions and restrictions that might be applied on Turkish immigration to either Cyprus or other European nations , they are simply minute considerations when compared to the huge political benefits that the citizens of this region will no doubt gain.
I firmly support Turkeys' efforts to join the EU and I hope in the next 10 or so years .

[Nikitas]

"Keeping in mind that if Turkey were to become a member, its citizens will be able to travel, and live/work in Cyprus. "

Mr Talat already has made it clear that the EU legal order cannot apply to the TCs in its entirety. One interpretation is that he wants to prevent a flood of mainlanders to the TC constituent state. Becaue that is where they will be going, not the GC state where they will be most unwelcome.

The UK also has made it clear that in the event of Turkey joining it will not accept the free settlement of Turkish nationals.

In the final test it is not Cyprus that will block Turkey's entry in the EU, it will be longer established and more powerful nations that will do it. Greece has repeated the mantra that if Turkey wants to join it will have to abide by EU rules. The meaning concealed in that phrase is that Turkey will have to accept the law of the sea provisions for the 12 mile territorial waters and the continental shelf. That by itself kind of shuts Turkey out.

We are at the start of the process, there is a long way to go to approach the final test.