Jim Murphy

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Monday 10 March, 2008

Just to pick up some of the points raised in response to my earlier blog on Turkey: Mike asked how far I thought the EU could expand, as Turkey was pushing the geographic boundaries. I am against setting any pre-ordained limit on EU expansion - enlargement has been a huge positive both for the countries already in the EU, ourselves included, and those that have joined more recently. Certainly the countries of the Balkans belong in Europe, along with countries to the EU's east like Ukraine. Linked to this is an answer to Simon's points regarding the economics of EU expansion and the issue of values. I strongly believe that Turkey joining the EU would be a real boost to British business. Turkey has a strong economy, growing at around 7.5% per annum in recent years, so it would benefit the EU's single market and British jobs and growth. This is something I was asked about on a radio phone in for Radio XL last week.

Simon writes that he hasn't seen the EU doing much inter-faith outreach work. Of course there is a lot of activity carried out by EU countries on an individual basis - for example Spain has played a leading role - with Turkey - in establishing an "Alliance of Civilisations" (more info at http://www.unaoc.org). There are also some good EU-level initiatives. For example the President of the European Parliament was recently in the UK and included in his visit talks with British Muslim leaders and a speech on intercultural dialogue at the London School of Economics. If people have ideas on what the EU's role should be in this then I'm keen to hear them.

I disagree entirely with the comments made by 'Lord Truth' - but it gives me the chance to point out that the entry of a reformed Turkey into the EU would be an excellent symbolic rejection of the idea that Europe is exclusively a "Christian club". Turkey is a democracy, and it is making further reforms on its path to EU membership. In recent years Turkey has abolished the death penalty, significantly reduced torture, ensured constitutional rights for women and improved the cultural rights of minority groups. The EU accession process will continue to be a catalyst for reform. To answer Richard's question - every indication I have seen suggests Turkey very much wants to join the EU, and is making progress towards doing so. It's a balance - Turkey needs to keep going along the reform track, and the EU needs to reassert that membership is the destination.

With most of the House of Commons debate on the Treaty over, I am looking forward to having some more time to focus on issues like Turkey, Cyprus, Kosovo and the Balkans, and our relations with Russia, as well as things like inter-cultual dialogue. I am the Minister responsible for the UK's "public diplomacy", and I'll be blogging about that in due course. In any case, you'll be pleased to know this may mean a wider range of blogs!

Posted at 09:54 10 March 2008 by Jim Murphy | Comments[3]

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Thank you for your elaborations on Turkey, but you left out the issue of the Armenian Genocide and how it will factor into the UK's acceptance of Turkey into the EU.

Posted by Hrag on March 10, 2008 at 02:48 PM GMT #

Hrag raises a very important point and one which I also would be grateful if you could address. The problem is that Britain does not recognise the Armenian Genocide either - which is presumably the reason why this is not a concern for the British government when discussing Turkey's accession to the EU.brBut this is a very immoral stance to take.brbrIn my response from the FCO about this matter, I was told that Britain is not convinced that the Armenian Genocide of 1915 which we all know full well was a genocide was indeed a genocide. As I am sure you can appreciate Jim, this is a somewhat bizarre and offensive stance for Britain to take. As I said in my letter to the FCO, it is rightly considered obscene to deny The Holocaust, so why is it OK to deny the Armenian Genocide? Both were obscene acts of mindless and barbaric violence. Yet, presumably for strategic and trade purposes, Britain still does not accept that the Armenian population were subject to a blatant attempt to eradicate them. As a Briton, I find the position of my government on this issue shameful.brbrTurkey should not be allowed entry into the EU until they recognise the Armenian Genocide. But Britain also needs to acknowledge it so we can use our diplomatic weight to put pressure on Turkey to confess to this heinous act. It may have happened almost a century ago but that is irrelevant. What happened in 1915 was an awful crime and something which we should all acknowledge.brbrAnyway, good to see the the Minister blogging.

Posted by Justin on March 13, 2008 at 02:12 AM GMT #

brSo Mr Murphy disagrees with everything Lord Truth says?With the historical record of fanatical Turkish attempts to take over Europe by force? Turkish nationalism remains exceptionally high.I do not ,for example ,see Germans flying their flag on every building as in Instanbul nor refusing to acknowledge past misdeeds.Turkish ministers in interviews present a barely disguised,essentially threatening attitude-'if you dont let us in there will be trouble.'brTurkey 'will benefit the British economythat is built round financial services and high tech industries?-Please!! 'Turkey is a democracy'-when the army has a constitutional right to intervene politically whenever it pleases?'Turkey has 'significantly reduced torture' This is shocking.If Murphy heard that torture in British prisons had been 'significantly reduced' he would be outraged-'Significantly? Why not totally? Whats the problem?.he would demand.brOf course it is good that progress is being made on reforms and Istanbul is a marvellous historical city but there is obvious tension between the thousands of black suited resentful young men obeying the call of the Mosque knowing that a mile or so away the rich are living unconcerned secular western lives.These problems have a long way to go before being resolvedbrAnd even poor EU countries like Romania have living standards infant mortality24/1000 far above Turkey 38/1000.brBut it is what is behind all this that is disturbingbrThere has to be some reason why the idea of admitting a huge100 million in 2012rapidly growing, poverty stricken ,non democratic, militaristic nation ,culturally alien to EU traditions,is even being considered for admission-and Murphy makes it arrogantly and frighteningly clear that he regards this as an already 'done thing'-there is no uncertainty or modest hint of possible future failure in his remarksbrThe answer returns always to Israeli pressure on Britain to ensure Turkish admission to ensure Israels security from a possible Islamic Turkish threat.brLocking Turkey into the EU will neutralise this threat once and for all ,making Israel safe at the expense of the ultimate destruction of Christian Europe and its political and social culture.brWith this in mind, I was startled to find-on Mr Murphys website ,that only a week or so ago he hosted a radio 'phone -in' about Israel !! --this at a time when his boss Mr Milliband was commending him for his exhausting work on the EU referendum debate.!brDoes Murphy really have time to spare for Israel from dealing with an EU entity of 340 miliion people and 27 countries?brWhat is he doing taking time off to act as a Public Relations Officer for Israel? Does he get paid for it? We have a right to know.brThe Turkish -EU entry business is very ,very disturbing.Let us have the real reasons for the British governments obsession over this and not put up with the obscuring and diversionary comments of Mr Murphy--or incidentally,any similar remarks from the Conservative opposition- who are in the same Israeli pockets.

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