TURKEY, the EU and NAFTA

WAIS has engaged in a heated discussion as to whether Turkey should join the EU, and therefore what the limits of Europe are. The ploy discussed in a Reuters report (12/12/02) makes one wonder what the limits of North America are. Greenland perhaps, but Turkey?

NAFTA may be EU alternative for Turkey: Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he would look elsewhere if the EU failed to grant a date for entry talks this week and suggested joining the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to Anatolian news agency. Turkey wants the EU Copenhagen summit to give it a concrete date in 2003 to start its EU membership negotiations, but EU leaders appear set to award a conditional start date in 2005, something Erdogan has said is unacceptable. Erdogan visited the US to win backing from President George Bush for Turkey's European ambitions. The US, which may look to Turkey for air bases if it launches an attack on neighboring Iraq, wants to see its ally Turkey welcomed into the EU's stabilizing sphere of influence. "I I proposed to President Bush that they take us into NAFTA", said Erdogan.

Ronald Hilton - 12/12/02