I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t consider myself a political person, but recent events in Europe have strongly prompted me to produce this piece reflecting on the state of continental politics. Specifically, the current crisis in the Euro-zone and how it relates to the ongoing issue of Turkish accession into the EU.<\/p>\n
Disclaimer: 1)\tI am Turkish by birth. This naturally biases my perception of things.<\/p>\n 2)\tI had a Greek employee at InstallAware who was the most proficient liar I have ever seen. Towards the end of our relationship, this person was actually getting so outrageous with his lies, that his defense of their truth was based on the suggestion that lies so outrageous would defeat their purpose, so they had to be true. It turns out this was only part of his lie-ability!<\/p>\n The West Needs to Get Over Greece Sure, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all cool dudes (Plato being a personal favorite of mine). But the West has become so obsessed with Greece, that fraternities\/sororities on US campuses are choosing three letters from the Greek alphabet for their names and soliciting participants for the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Greek Life\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on campus. Greek Life? Please. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really just a self-made delusion.<\/p>\n Leaving aside the issue of the under-representation of Indian and Asian thought in Western philosophy curriculums, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s virtually nothing modern Greece has in common with ancient Greece.<\/p>\n Greece Lied Its Way Into the EU Those aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t good odds. Yet, the EU welcomed Greece in.<\/p>\n By now it is well established that Goldman Sachs helped the Greek government cook the books so they could be admitted into the EU.<\/p>\n In this day and age, how this could happen is beyond me on a rational basis.<\/p>\n However, given the fascination that the West has with Greece, this is understandable from an emotive basis.<\/p>\n And despite the knowledge of how modern-day Greece sneaked in their economic Trojan Horse into the EU being common knowledge, the EU continues to award Greek deceit by letting them remain in the Union, without any penalty for their gross misrepresentation.<\/p>\n In fact, this too I understand; given my previous experience with my Greek employee in the disclaimer: it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply so outrageous, that it could not possibly be true that this is a lie! But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still astounding when you get to see the same dynamics at play on a sovereign state level.<\/p>\n You really wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be a German taxpayer right now.<\/p>\n Double Standards Against Turkey Thanks to the whole Greek affair, we now know for a fact that, the EU is in the practice of applying double standards against Turkey.<\/p>\n The Irony<\/strong><\/p>\n The irony in this all is that, Turkey is actually doing remarkably well.<\/p>\n In fact, for the first time in modern history, Turkish economy has had inflation in the single digits during the past decade.<\/p>\n This is nothing short of a miracle, given that the country endured 70% inflation for about five decades prior \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the only country in the world to have had this experience of chronic inflation.<\/p>\n Other countries went to hyper-inflation (in the thousands), thereafter bringing their inflation down to single digits.<\/p>\n It appears the dream of accession into the EU has motivated Turkish performance very well.<\/p>\n To Be Fair\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 However one would hope that the irony of the current situation is not lost on the EU. With the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153EU dream\u00e2\u20ac\u009d officially on the verge of collapse, maybe what they really need to do is dream bigger<\/em><\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and not smaller.<\/p>\n This great continent, apparently, cannot afford any less.<\/p>\n ~S.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t consider myself a political person, but recent events in Europe have strongly prompted me to produce this piece reflecting on the state of continental politics. Specifically, the current crisis in the Euro-zone and how it relates to the ongoing issue of Turkish accession into the EU. Disclaimer: There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s two disclaimers before we may … <\/p>\n
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\nThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s two disclaimers before we may begin:<\/p>\n
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\nOK, today pretty much everywhere is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the West\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m referring specifically to Europe and North America. Because these cultures trace their ancestry to ancient Greece \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a most reasonable hypothesis \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it is understandable that they are fascinated by Greece. However, this has been taken to extremes in modern times.<\/p>\n
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\nEconomically, for about half the time since gaining independence from the Ottomans (disclaimer: the Ottoman Empire is the precursor of modern Turkey), Greece has been in economic crisis; and for about the other half, in a state of declared bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
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\nTurkish citizenry has long complained that the EU discriminates against Turkey through the application of double standards: a different set of rules by which Turkish progress is measured, compared to the remainder of the EU applicants.<\/p>\n
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\nAgain, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s completely understandable from an emotive perspective that the EU are not welcoming what would be the first non-Christian state into their Union with open arms. Turkish ancestry, after all, had invaded their way into half of Europe a few centuries ago.<\/p>\n
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\nA strong world needs a strong EU economy, and Turkish accession into the EU is still a dream cherished by many a Turk.<\/p>\n