Columnist should stick to environmental issues

Victoria White (Opinion, November 13) says that the EU should allow Turkey to accede as a member state and that Europe needs Turkey more than Turkey needs Europe.

Her logic is bizarre and the consequences if this ever happened are frightening. Turkey is not and never has been European (though the Ottoman Empire did brutally rule south-eastern Europe for centuries). It is an overwhelmingly Asiatic country in terms of geography, population and culture. Adding Turkey to ‘Europe’ would destroy the very concept of Europe. Nor is Turkey a real democracy.

If Turkey ever joined the EU the latter would have borders with Iraq and Syria and all the chaos that is going on in the Middle East right now which is likely to last for years if not decades.

The result would be a massive escalation in people trafficking, extremism and terrorism into Europe. Although the Turkish economy has grown rapidly in recent years much of its population is very backward and poor; Turkey would be a big burden on Europe for aid and structural funds at a time when the EU’s budget is very stretched.

Ms White is blissfully naïve about the consequences of adding a country of 80 million Muslims to Europe at a time when many European countries are plagued by failed multiculturalism and tensions between communities.

Ms White’s deluded opinion piece is a perfect example of what happens when an environmentalist starts writing about geopolitics.

Frank Giles

Ballsbridge

Dublin 4