3rd of October closing in - Hotline for Turkey

[Petrus]

But Petrus, Turkey's status as a secular state is second only to France's, in terms of the law. I know there have been interventions by the military to prevent democratically expressed islamic wishes taking root, but don't you see the introduction of Turkey into the EU as a way of bolstering the secular tradition in Turkey? In other words, what you put as a precondition might in fact be acheivable only as an outcome?

Its might also trigger some useful reappraisals within the EU, for example in the UK, abolishing church schools, removing protection of expression of religious belief from the ECHR, and so on.

I have already read this argument, from Michel Rocard, a very strong europhile.

I know Turkey is a very strictly secular country, but it still appears as potentially religious-based, as the role of the army in the institutions show it.

I do not think the adhesion to Europe would help it concerning secularism, just look at the actual charia-wanabe government they have.

Contrary to other political parties existing in Europe such as the CDU in Germany, islamic parties have a religious written law thay can promote at least inside their own borders.

As long as this remain possible, i think Turkey shall be outside and work at it, on a democratic basis, without military interference.

We ALWAYS are the enemy, its just in the past we have been on your side as the enemy. Just ask De Gaulle.

I know, i know, it is just that you have a bit below the average slaughtering level on the continent for the last six hundred years so i forgot a bit.

De Gaulle has been dead for a while and his - theoretical - heir is Chirac so i ask you, would you trust Chirac more than one second if he wished you, say, a good day?

Anyway, actually I was rather hoping we could have the Germans this time. The past two times have shown they are pretty tasty customers so I think its our turn to have them. Also the Turks and the Germans should be on the same side, as in 1916, otherwise the Americans will get very confused. You can have the Americans, which should be very amusing in its own right, and of course they will be a few years late.

You CHEATER!

We didn't have the Germans with us since Napoleon and they turned their weapons against us in the end so it doesn't count!

It is absolutely out of question to let them side with you, we would have to take someone else and it would be too short to be worth playing.

No, let us make three parties : you keep the Turks so that the balkanic ones can have a bit of fun, this will distract them from their civil wars, a very good thing for Europe, and Germany and France play for themselves.

The winner takes the americans when they arrive, after some times, so that they finish the business as usual.