Announcement

Collapse

Forum Rules (Everyone Must Read!!!)

1] What you CAN NOT post.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this forum to post any material which is:
- abusive
- vulgar
- hateful
- harassing
- personal attacks
- obscene

You also may not:
- post images that are too large (max is 500*500px)
- post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or cited properly.
- post in UPPER CASE, which is considered yelling
- post messages which insult the Armenians, Armenian culture, traditions, etc
- post racist or other intentionally insensitive material that insults or attacks another culture (including Turks)

The Ankap thread is excluded from the strict rules because that place is more relaxed and you can vent and engage in light insults and humor. Notice it's not a blank ticket, but just a place to vent. If you go into the Ankap thread, you enter at your own risk of being clowned on.
What you PROBABLY SHOULD NOT post...
Do not post information that you will regret putting out in public. This site comes up on Google, is cached, and all of that, so be aware of that as you post. Do not ask the staff to go through and delete things that you regret making available on the web for all to see because we will not do it. Think before you post!


2] Use descriptive subject lines & research your post. This means use the SEARCH.

This reduces the chances of double-posting and it also makes it easier for people to see what they do/don't want to read. Using the search function will identify existing threads on the topic so we do not have multiple threads on the same topic.

3] Keep the focus.

Each forum has a focus on a certain topic. Questions outside the scope of a certain forum will either be moved to the appropriate forum, closed, or simply be deleted. Please post your topic in the most appropriate forum. Users that keep doing this will be warned, then banned.

4] Behave as you would in a public location.

This forum is no different than a public place. Behave yourself and act like a decent human being (i.e. be respectful). If you're unable to do so, you're not welcome here and will be made to leave.

5] Respect the authority of moderators/admins.

Public discussions of moderator/admin actions are not allowed on the forum. It is also prohibited to protest moderator actions in titles, avatars, and signatures. If you don't like something that a moderator did, PM or email the moderator and try your best to resolve the problem or difference in private.

6] Promotion of sites or products is not permitted.

Advertisements are not allowed in this venue. No blatant advertising or solicitations of or for business is prohibited.
This includes, but not limited to, personal resumes and links to products or
services with which the poster is affiliated, whether or not a fee is charged
for the product or service. Spamming, in which a user posts the same message repeatedly, is also prohibited.

7] We retain the right to remove any posts and/or Members for any reason, without prior notice.


- PLEASE READ -

Members are welcome to read posts and though we encourage your active participation in the forum, it is not required. If you do participate by posting, however, we expect that on the whole you contribute something to the forum. This means that the bulk of your posts should not be in "fun" threads (e.g. Ankap, Keep & Kill, This or That, etc.). Further, while occasionally it is appropriate to simply voice your agreement or approval, not all of your posts should be of this variety: "LOL Member213!" "I agree."
If it is evident that a member is simply posting for the sake of posting, they will be removed.


8] These Rules & Guidelines may be amended at any time. (last update September 17, 2009)

If you believe an individual is repeatedly breaking the rules, please report to admin/moderator.
See more
See less

A club for outsidersA club for outsiders

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • A club for outsidersA club for outsiders

    Unable to deal fairly with the Cyprus issue, the EU risks driving Turkey into the arms of an increasingly disguntled Russia.

    At a recent conference in Istanbul, Joschka Fischer, the former German foreign minister, warned that if the EU spurned Turkey, and mishandled its already fraught relations with Russia and Iran, it could find itself facing a triple alliance.

    That idea may seem far fetched, but if one considers the state of the EU's evolving ties with Russia and Turkey, Fischer's warning becomes plausible. In recent years Russia and Turkey have had very different relationships with the EU. Russia, annoyed by the EU's demands that it grant outsiders access to its gas pipelines, and stung by lectures on human rights, has become increasingly anti-European. This year Russian leaders warned the EU that unless it became more cooperative they would send gas to Asia instead of Europe. Turkey, by contrast, has moved closer to the EU, beginning talks on accession last December.

    But that closeness could soon evaporate. Now that the Turks are realising that many EU states - including France and Germany - are hostile to the idea of their joining, they are becoming more hostile to the EU. And if, as is likely, the country's talks with the EU collapse in the autumn, the result will be a surge of Turkish nationalism.

    Those talks will probably collapse because of Cyprus. Turkey will not ratify the extension of its customs union with the EU to the 10 new member-states (including Cyprus) - which means opening its ports to them - unless the EU delivers on its promised restoration of trade links with Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus. But the EU cannot, because of Cyprus's veto.

    Russia and Turkey are both uncertain of their European identities. Their pro-Europeans compete with traditionalists who argue that looking east is an option (for Russians, that means China; for Turks, it means the Middle East; for both, it means central Asia). In both countries, a prickly, defensive and sometimes paranoid nationalism is never far beneath the surface.

    Most Russians view the loss of empire in the Gorbachev period as a national humiliation. They lament Boris Yeltsin's kowtowing on foreign policy to a patronising west during the 1990s. Most are glad that high oil prices and Vladimir Putin's more disciplined regime have restored Russia's strength and international standing. Senior figures in the Russian security establishment see Nato as a hostile organisation with an anti-Russian rationale that is intent on surrounding the country and encouraging parts of it to break off.

    Turkey lost its empire much longer ago, but the anguish of the early 1920s - when several European powers invaded it - has not been forgotten or forgiven. When a western European reminds a Turk of his country's failure to apologise for the massacres of Armenians in 1915 or suggests autonomy for Turkey's Kurds, he may be told that western Europeans are reviving ancient schemes to break up Turkey. Hurt by the opposition of several EU counties to their bid for membership, some Turks accuse them of racial or religious prejudice.

    Of course, these sentiments among Russians and Turks are partly justified: there are people in the west (though more in Washington than Europe) who have spent recent years trying to weaken Russia, while a minority of western Europeans (including the Pope) want the EU to be a Christian club.

    National unity is a powerful doctrine in both states, championed by the security services and military establishments. "Foreign forces" are accused of aiding Kurdish and Chechen separatists. In Turkey, many people believe that if separatist Kurds were granted more rights, their state would fall apart. In Russia, anyone who argues for a negotiated solution to the Chechen problem is soon branded unpatriotic.

    Russia is preparing to offer a sympathetic shoulder to a Turkey spurned by the EU. Over the past five years, ties between this once hostile pair have burgeoned. Russia is Turkey's second-biggest trading partner (after Germany), with two-way trade amounting to about $20bn a year. Two million Russian tourists a year visit Turkey. Both countries are suspicious of US efforts to promote democracy in their region. Each has clamped down on the terrorist groups that threaten the other (Kurds in Russia, Chechens in Turkey). And they like the fact that neither lectures on the other on human rights. Putin and Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met four times last year. Russian diplomats now wax lyrical about Turkey and Russia becoming leading and allied Eurasian powers.

    If the EU is not careful, it could drive Turkey into Russia's arms. And if that pair teamed up with Iran - with which both have good relations - the EU would face a powerful and potentially hostile trio: two major producers of oil and gas, plus Turkey, which carries crucial pipelines to Europe.

    Anti-EU sentiment is growing in Russia and Turkey. While the EU is hardly to blame for the growth of Russian authoritarianism and nationalism under Putin, its inability to deal fairly with the Cyprus issue is fuelling anti-western feeling in Turkey. If the EU fails to tackle the problem, Joschka Fischer's troubling scenario could come to pass.

  • #2
    Re: A club for outsidersA club for outsiders

    Yeah, because Turkey is doing Europe such a big favor by joining the EU. Get off your high horse, Mehmet. Sheesh.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: A club for outsidersA club for outsiders

      whats up londoner? havent seen you for a while...

      Comment

      Working...
      X