The danger of Turkey's EU accession

The Portuguese sociologist André Freire is opposed to Turkey's EU accession. "One of the arguments in favour of Turkey's accession is the irreversibility of the process. And yet the Turkish accession presupposes the respect of four conditions established in 1987 by the European Parliament, which are far from being met, quite on the contrary: the recognition of the Armenian genocide and of the Cypriot Republic as well as the retreat of the Turkish army from the island, the respect human rights and the recognition of non-Sunnite Muslim minorities. The establishment of closer ties between the EU and Turkey is fundamental in order to fight Islamist fundamentalism. The full integration of Turkey, of no interest for the EU or for the country itself, engendering the risk of bringing fundamentalism right into Europe, could weaken and endanger the Union. Talk of a 'privileged partnership' would be far preferable."

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