Madam, - In his World View column of July 23rd, Paul Gillespie presents the "strong case" for Turkish membership of the European Union. First up is the EU's perceived need to "accommodate differences" and "develop relations with the Muslim world".
The other side of that coin shows a very powerful Islamist Turkish government acting as champion and standard-bearer for 100 million Muslims within an enlarged European Union.
Mr Gillespie goes on to dismiss the possibility of a "privileged partnership" with Turkey. He feels such a compromise would not be well received in Ankara due to a "highly sensitive streak in their political culture".
He also suggests that there might be other considerations such as Turkey's "perceived identity" and "precarious self-definition".
Essentially your columnist is making an appeal to have Turkey brought inside the tent for fear of what might happen if it is left outside.
As if this warning was not clear enough, he concludes by calling for political leadership on the Turkish question lest a loss of momentum should "endanger everyone's stability". This sounds ominous, and it also sounds like appeasement.
As for political leadership, the EU Council and Commission might care to peruse the results of the latest Eurobarometer poll, where they will find that the EU has no democratic mandate to proceed with Turkish membership talks either next October or indeed any time soon. - Yours, etc,
CONOR O'BRIEN, Mount Anville Park, Dublin 14.