Let Turkey join the EU
Sir: There are many answers to your editorial ‘Turkish menace’ (12 June) — but perhaps the one that serves its purpose best is: ‘EU asked for it’. Turks feel, quite simply, that they have been insulted by the EU in the way their membership application has been endlessly delayed, while dubious ex-communist countries like Bulgaria and Romania have been given the red carpet treatment. And the ultimate insult is to allow Greek Cyprus, with a population one hundredth that of Turkey, to dominate the proceedings, demanding that the Turks stand to attention while what they regard as insult after insult is flung in their face.
The EU is, admittedly, in distinguished company. Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty thought the Turks would be a walkover in 1915. The result was 250,000 Allied casualties at Gallipoli. On the other hand, Napoleon warned: ‘Never anger a Turk to the point where he draws his sword.’
Joining the EU remains the fundamental Turkish ambition: not because they have read and agreed with every chapter of their negotiations with Brussels, but because Atatürk pointed them towards Europe. The EU should try speeding up the process. The Turks will be quick to respond.
Osman Streater
London NW3
A bloody disgrace
Sir: Douglas Murray is correct that we will never know the truth about what happened on Bloody Sunday (12 June), but the government still has a responsibility to do its utmost to determine the truth. Its forces killed 14 people, half of whom were shot in the back and none of whom were armed. What was an ambiguous situation at best was portrayed by the government and military, and the London media, as some sort of pitched battle between the paratroopers and the IRA.
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