Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Dec 14 2004

France: `Erdogan should bring a stone from the Moon’
View: Baris Sanli, Analyst at ISRO

I am a nice person, a logical one,at least my friends call me so, but
even I can not understand French. Probably NASA should set up a
research team and send a shuttle to France, communicate with Chirac,
also with Armenians. You can blame me for speaking nonsense but
please try to understand all this French opposition from a Turk’s
perspective.

There is a joke about Turkey’s membership to the EU. Bulgaria,
Romania and Turkey came to the doors of the EU commission. First the
President of Bulgaria enters to the commission.

Commission says:

`Ok, Mr. President. We will ask you a question. If you know, we will
take you to the EU’

President of Bulgaria replies:

`Ok, I am ready’

They ask:

`Tell us the name of the Japanese city where atomic bomb first
exploded’

The President answered :

`Hiroshima’

and he passed the questioning and his country hopefully joins to the
EU.

When it was Romania’s turn, they asked the year when the atomic bomb
exploded in `Hiroshima’.

President of Romania answered the question right with the answer year
1945. Hopefully again, Romania joined the EU.

When Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Leader came, the Commission welcomed
him, and said
`Ok, now, your question, If you answer this question in 5 minutes, we
will accept Turkey to the EU’

Mr. Erdogan said:

`I am ready, I worked hard for the last 45 years, day and night, you
can ask me any question’

Commission asked the question:

`Ok, now tell us the names and birth dates of all the people died in
Hiroshima during the atomic bomb explosion’

***
This was a nice joke, I recall from a Turkish Newspaper maybe two
months ago. Turkey had done everything, Cyprus, Human Rights, Zana
and her friends, Kurdish. Now there are no more alternatives. Turkey
should be given a date.

What makes me feel sick is the `French view’. They were given
capitulations; Ottoman Empire had good relations with them. Turkish
Republic was always nice to France, even French used to taught in
schools in 1960s. France was a raw model for Turkey. Nope, no problem
whatsoever.

All this adds up to French problem of stubbornness. Think that way, I
watched the Turkish Intellectuals visit to Yerevan capital of Armenia
last night on CNN Turk. There were street interviews. One old and
wise Armenian said:

`Every nation has bad people and good people, we should look to the
future’. Even Armenia’s Armenians are supporting Turkey’s membership
to some extend.

But with French this is a different story.

I am not sure but maybe if Erdogan can go to the Moon without a
rocket and bring a stone from the Moon, French’s Turk skeptics will
be satisfied.