Turkish democracy deserves our support, not our condescension

It drives me absolutely bonkers to hear the buck-ignorant bigotry which people are coming out with about Islam in Turkey, writes Victoria White.

Bertie Ahern

That the Turkish parliament yesterday considered reintroducing the death penalty is a tragedy. That Angela Merkel and the EU institutions were lining up this week to threaten Turkish president Recep Erdogan that the death penalty would mean Turkey could not join the EU is the ultimate irony.

Because it was the EU — notably Austria — that pulled the plug on Erdogan’s advancing accession process back in 2005, a year after the death penalty was banned in Turkey. Even today, Austria’s adorable presidential hopeful Norbert Hofer promises to lead his country out of the EU if Turkey accedes.