Turkey and the future of the European Union
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Turkey and the future of the European Union
By William John Hagan
The Canada Free Press
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Much against the desires of revisionist historians, Europe is the epicenter of the Christian world. It was not the Church of Jerusalem, under Saint James, that spread the message of Jesus Christ to the world; it was the Church of Rome and its twin pillars, Saints Peter and Paul, who laid the foundation for a unified European culture. The sole coalescing force that had brought together a people as diverse as the Europeans was the spread of the Roman Catholic Church during the dying days of the Roman Empire. As with the spread of Islam in the Middle East, the Roman Church in its early years often acted in a most un-Christian fashion. The persecution of Europe's Jews, the Knight's Templar, and the Gnostics were bloody and horrific. However, the faith followed a course not found in its Eastern Islamic counterpart, and developed into a modern religious philosophy that can be regarded as one of the most significant institutions on the planet. When one speaks of the Church today, we refer not only to its mother in Rome but to the entire Christian faith, from Catholicism and Anglicism to Protestantism.
The diversity of Christianity in Europe demonstrates the vitality of this belief as it has adapted to the individual cultures it serves; while, still forming a loose unification that has allowed the majority of Europe to develop from a barbarian culture to a center of world civilization. The greatest external threat that Europe, and its unified culture, has ever faced was the brutal invasion and occupation of great tracts of territory by the Ottoman Empire. The influence of this Islamic occupation can still be seen today throughout Central and Eastern Europe. The role of the Ottoman descendants in Bosnia-Herzergovina and the support they received from Osama bin Laden unnecessarily prolonged the bloodshed in Bosnia. The untold story of this war is that Muslims of Bosnia, who have been successful at painting themselves as victims of the Croats and Serbs, were importing weapons and fighters from throughout the Islamic world with the assistance of Osama bin Laden. When the guns in Bosnia were finally laid to rest, bin Laden turned his support to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), in Serbia, in their attempt to establish an independent Islamic Kosovo within the heart of Europe. Serbia employed brutal, but necessary, means to contain this Islamic threat to European sovereignty until President Clinton, in a well-calculated move to distract the US public from his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, made the decision to send US troops to fight in support of the bin Laden-funded KLA.
Today, the Turkish problem is, once again, threatening the future stability of Europe. After years of opposition by Greece and Austria, Turkey is now being considered for membership in the European Community. If you think France has a problem with Islamic immigration today, just wait until the day comes when the short-sighted Europeans admit Turkey into the European Union. The mass migration of poverty-stricken Turks into every nation of Europe will overwhelm their already weak economies, but the true danger will be the cultural invasion that will forever change the face of Europe.
Time and again, legal and illegal Islamic immigrants to Europe have proven unwilling to assimilate themselves into mainstream European life. Unlike immigrants from India, who have retained their religious beliefs and become loyal citizens of Great Britain, the Muslims of Europe have chosen to ignore the languages and cultures of their host nations. In effect, they have become self-ghettoized and contributed little to Europe other than becoming a drain on its social systems. The fact that these autonomous communities have also become the harbingers of terrorism is a fact that can no longer be ignored.
Today, Europe is unable to cope with the Islamic population it has, and short of forced expulsion there are few solutions to this mounting problem. The admission of Turkey into the European Community will be the final blow to the Christian identity of Europe. Once the Turkish people are free to live in and work, legally, in the European nation of their choice, the problem will not be Paris burning but a deluge of Islamic immigrants into the Christian world which will be unstoppable. If one remembers with horror the acts of Black September, the Red Brigade, or the sectarian violence in Yugoslavia; then, just wait until every citizen of Turkey has a European Passport.
(William John Hagan is a columnist for Canada Free Press.)
Sure, some Turks might be jihad-crazy but generally, Turkish Islam is a long way from that of Arab Salafists and Wahabis. Turkey has good military relations with Israel and there is such a thing as a Turkish edition of Playboy magazine and has been for many years. I don't believe Turkish membership in the EU will be the same kind of Trojan horse that Muslim immigration from other countries has proven to be.
I imagine that if certain of our own states were only now applying for membership in the union, we might hear similar concerns.
First, this article has a number of oversights. While Turkish entry into the European Union is quite possible and maybe probable, it will not be until 2015 or so. After that the European 2+3+2 worker mobility limits can come into effect which means that Turkish workers can be stopped from entering EU member states for at least 7 years if individual members choose to implement this policy. This can also be extended and i would expect this will figure heavily in the accession treaty discussions. No country has to let in any Turkish workers if they really oppose them.
Second, there are already some 3 million people of Turkish origin living in Germany alone at present. While this has caused some problems, it is a problem that existed long before the current discussions between Ankara and Brussels.
Third, Turkey's position in the world may be vitally important to the 'war on terror'. This has led President Bush, among others, to be a staunch supporter of Turkish entry into the EU. Imagine if Turkey was shut out of Europe and forced to seek alliances with countries in the Middle East and elsewhere. Would that decision come back to haunt Europe?
Fourth, the article assumes that immigrants to Great Britain are more loyal than immigrants elsewhere. Prove it? I grew up in the UK and i would not say that immigrants to the UK are any more loyal than immigrants elsewhere in Europe. Why did the ultra-right wing British National Party (BNP) get 5% of the vote in the 2005 election if there were not problems with immigration? It is also an oversight to suggest that immigrants to the UK are from India. Many come from Pakistan (Muslim) and parts of the Caribbean and Africa (some may also be Muslim).
Fifth, the EU still has to deal with Bosnia and Albania, two Muslim countries that are in Europe anyhow. Granted, each has a very small population, but Europe still has to deal with the debate about Islam.