Lash wrote:O.M.G.
You mean this has been going on for 41 years?
<too much...LOL!!>
Turkey hasn't gotten tired of waiting on queue for FORTY ONE YEARS???
The EU is like a big tease.
Well, seems, your memory isn't that good re Turkey? (And perhaps you re-read the conditions about how to become a EEC/EU member? :wink: )
Walter-- I don't need to re-read it. Unless it entails moving Turkey to another location with teaspoons, it shouldn't take that long.
The 'latest' news on Turkey. EU-Turkey talks 'late next year'
Mr Erdogan is upbeat about Turkey's EU prospects
The EU has offered to start membership talks with Turkey in the second half of 2005, Italy's foreign minister says.
A possible starting date of 3 October has been given separately by various unnamed diplomatic sources.
EU leaders are still discussing dates at the two-day summit that began earlier on Thursday in Brussels.
The sources said that the aim of the talks - which could take up to 15 years - would be full membership, but Turkey's entry would not be guaranteed.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said he expected a deal with the EU on the issue of Cyprus before the end of the meeting.
Asked what the latest progress in discussions on the Cyprus issue was, Mr Erdogan told reporters in Brussels it "will be resolved tomorrow", without elaborating.
I can't believe the issue of Cyprus is going to be settled so easily. It's still a real hot-button issue in my neighbourhood
Quote:Operation SNOWGOOSE is Canada's contribution to the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), which began in 1964 as a battalion-sized contingent of peacekeepers and was maintained as such until 1993. UNFICYP's mandate is to monitor the cease-fire between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and to patrol a demarcation line across the island.
During 29 years of peacekeeping in Cyprus, about 25,000 CF members served with the Canadian contingent. Canada still provides UNFICYP headquarters at Nicosia with one CF staff officer working in Operations.
And after 40 years there, we're finally down to one person there (I'm amazed that we've had someone in Cyprus almost my entire life).
link
The Greeks and the Turks are soooooooo not friends.
ehBeth wrote:The Greeks and the Turks are soooooooo not friends.
They haven't gotten along real well since Phillip of Macedonia sacked Byzantium in 340 BC and gave it to his then teen-aged son - who grew up to be Alexander The Great. It was sorta like a graduation present; the kid had just finished studies under Aristotle. A couple years after Phillip's death, Alexander's first solo campaign annexed the rest of what is today Turkey. Its pretty much all been downhill for the two ever since.
Walter Hinteler wrote:Quote:BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to offer Turkey a date of Oct. 3, 2033 to start negotiations on its membership of the bloc, a diplomat said.
LOL!
A funny typo indeed. Sounded like The Onion there for a moment ;-)
Lash wrote:Aussie-- I could be wrong, but I'm getting a vibe that you don't like Muslims...
LOL!
This thread seems to have gotten quite funny while I was away ... ;-)
And the prize for the wittiest understatement of the day goes to ...
I live near Greektown here. There is an Alexander the Great statue just down the road near my 'location'. There are still regular pitched battles between Greeks and Turks over who he 'belongs' to. And then there's the issue of Macedonia
A few years ago there was a rash of arson attacks related to this feud.
timberlandko wrote:A couple years after Phillip's death, Alexander's first solo campaign annexed the rest of what is today Turkey. Its pretty much all been downhill for the two ever since.
And that makes three. <grins> Bada boom.
Triple score like that deserves an honorable mention somewhere ;-)
ehBeth wrote:And then there's the issue of Macedonia
Yeah that should be great fun once Bulgaria has joined the EU alongside Greece ... and someone suggests opening accession talks with Mace- sorry, the Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia ...
Red and blue state differences pale by comparison.
Actually, my impressions were that Macedonians and Greeks, and Macedonians and Bulgarians - even Greeks and Turks, in a way - were quite alike, especially when compared with - well, anyone not from South Eastern Europe.
Dont ever tell 'em that, of course. (Real life conversation: "But, nimh, you gotta agree - the Greeks - if you compare them with the Turks, aren't the differences enormous? The Greeks are more like the Germans than like the Turks, aren't they, don' you think so!?". Ahem ... whaddaya say to that? "Ehm, well, err - yeah, you think so?" ;-))
A propos the fierceness of the Serb/Croat violence in the Yugoslav war, someone (some psychologist?) theorized about how, the more two parties are alike, the more violently they need to forge a delineation between each other to define the self ... hence why ethnic wars are the most violent when the differences between the peoples involved are originally the smallest ... some such theory. Sounded like he had a point.
(and the American Republican and Democratic parties are similarly indistinguishable)
I don't think it matters about Greeks vs Turks vs Germans. That's the reason why we've seen so much internal wars in most of the "civilized" countries.
It doesn't matter as long as they stay where they are. But Turkey is trying to relive the ottoman years by invading everywhere. It invades illegally(cyprus) and invades legally(germany). Why don't they just stay in their own country?
When Turkey plays Germany in football, all the turkish immigrants come out with turkish flags and want germany to lose. Where is the loyalty to their new country? If they love Turkey so much, then they should piss off back to Turkey and do everyone a favour.
Everyone of Irish descent, back to Ireland. NOW !!!
Why should Turkish root for the football team of a country that -at least until a few years ago; i don't know now- denied citizenship to their children born in Germany?
If I was an immigrant to a country and they gave me a chance of a better life, i would give my loyalty to them. I would try and learn the language and learn the culture of the country. Not just immigrate, and use the country just for money.
Canadian citizens of Turkish descent cheer for the Turkish team as well. Why shouldn't they?
do they cheer for turkey when they are playing against canada?
