Sunday, September 24, 2006

Christian Values: New EU Membership Criteria for Turkey?

Many Turks are upset, feeling that what the EU really wants from them is 'Christian Values'. This poses the question, what is it that makes Muslim values so different from Christian ones?

"Turks say that the latest criteria for Turkey’s EU membership is the ‘Christian values’.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister of Turkey, Turkish opposition leaders, and some Turkish religious authorities continue to demand that the pope make a more sincere public apology for the words he spoke in a Sept. 12 discourse at the University of Regensburg, during his visit to Germany. Turkish media continue to argue that the Pope has undermined the harmony between civilasations. However Abdullah Gul, Turkish Foreign Minister, said the Pope’s visit to Turkey will be a great opportunity to restore the misunderstands."

"Dr. Nilgun Gulcan from USAK, however, says that Stoiber’s only condition is Christinity:

“Turkey is not a Germany, or a France, and it will never be like these countries. Turkey is different. If the current members want to establish Europe on the base of Christian values, Turkey can never be a European. If Europe means Christian discrimination, it means that the EU has to live with more than 100 million non Europeans (Muslims) inside”
German politician Stoiber argued that Turkey has different cultural and spiritual background and these differences make it non-European: “Turkey is not Europe nor does it belong to the continent, because the country has such great cultural and spiritual differences with western values."
JTW News - Christian Values: New EU Membership Criteria for Turkey?

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