Sir, – For several years Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been slowly moving Turkey away from the secular principles espoused by Ataturk and has instead been pushing it in the direction of an Islamist state.
Restrictions have been placed on the sale of alcohol and various types of religious head coverings for women are encouraged by him and his government. Press freedom is under increasing attack and his deputy prime minister, Bulent Arinc, frowns on women laughing in public as this constitutes un-Islamic behaviour.
And yet Mr Erdogan wishes to be seen as a trusted partner for Europe. But his actions are not those of someone who believes in the principles of liberty, religious freedom and secularism, but rather an Islamic autocrat who is taking his nation down a very dangerous path.
Europe’s leaders, in their need to be seen to be doing something to slow down the volume of migrants arriving in Europe, regard the recently announced deal with Turkey as a triumph.
It’s certainly a triumph for Mr Erdogan. He will receive billions of euro in return for which he will swap one Syrian migrant for each non-Syrian migrant returned to Turkey, visa requirements for Turkish citizens will be weakened, and he has the promise of a faster timetable for Turkish entry to the EU. And he receives all this as a reward for threatening to open the border and allowing an unlimited number of migrants to enter Europe.
With this deal being touted as an EU success, it is not difficult to see why Brexit is seen by many as an attractive proposition. – Yours, etc,
TREVOR TROY,
Baile Átha Buí,
Co na Mí.