One of the myths being spread by the Remain pro-EU partisans is that the Leave campaign was scaremongering about the likelihood of Turkey joining the EU and with that the possibility, likely possibility, of a massive influx of Turks into Europe.
This letter from the Leave camp to No 10 sets out the case for their concerns….and illustrates how both the EU and Cameron were keen to fast forward Turkey’s accession despite claiming the opposite…..
Letter to the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary – Getting the facts clear on Turkey
Dear Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary,
We all agree that it is vital that everyone is clear about the facts in the European Union referendum. With a week to go before the public cast their votes on 23rd June, it is essential that voters are fully informed about Turkish accession to the EU.The IN campaign maintains that there is no prospect of Turkey joining the EU. Some IN campaigners have claimed that Turkish accession will not happen ‘until the year 3000’. Others have asserted that Turkish accession is not ‘on the cards’. These claims are in conflict with official Government policy and that of the European Union.
It is Government policy that Turkey should join the European Union and ‘to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels.’ It is Government policy that the United Kingdom is the ‘strongest possible advocate of Turkish accession’ and that Turkish accession will make the UK ‘more secure’ and ‘richer’, the same argument the Government makes for why the UK must remain in the European Union. That Government policy on Turkey remains the same was confirmed by the Minister for Europe to the House of Commons during the referendum campaign.
It is also the policy of the European Union that Turkey should join the EU. In March, the Heads of Government unanimously agreed that the EU should ‘re-energise the accession process’ and that Turkish acceleration should be ‘accelerated’. The European Commission has confirmed that this is its policy on several occasions since, most recently on 15 June. The new building in which the European Council will sit is specifically designed to accommodate more members of the European Union. There are enough translation booths to accommodate the five current candidate countries, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Official designs show that the European Council table itself will have a seat for the President of Turkey.
It is also a fact that both the European Union and the United Kingdom are paying billions to Turkey in order to facilitate its accession. The EU is paying €17.7 billion to Albania, Serbia, Turkey, Macedonia and Montenegro to join the EU. The UK is paying almost £1.8 billion to these five countries to join.
On Sunday it was revealed that the Government is actively considering granting approximately 1 million Turkish citizens visa-free travel to the UK. The Government admitted this was ‘a risk’. The Government also described the possibility of visa-free access for ‘1.8 million Kosovars’ to be ‘a drop in that larger ocean’ and noted the Commission was planning to ‘slipstream’ Kosovo ‘behind Turkey’.
Just this week, the United Kingdom Government dropped its objections to the opening of another chapter, on financial and budgetary issues. It is expected that formal talks could begin as early as 24 June 2016, the day after the public will vote on whether to remain in the European Union or to take back control. On 15 June, the Commission confirmed the accuracy of this report, stating talks could begin ‘by end of June’.
Despite the rapidly accelerating pace of accession negotiations, IN campaigners maintain that Turkey ‘is not an issue in this referendum and it shouldn’t be.’ Others assert that the UK has ‘a veto’ on Turkish accession. This claim is obviously artificial given the Government’s commitment to Turkish accession at the earliest possible opportunity. They also insist that this is the public’s last opportunity to have a say on Europe in our lifetimes.
In light of the above, voters will want to know the answer to two questions:
Is it Government policy 1) to veto the accession of Turkey to the European Union and the continuation of accession talks, and 2) to stop the extension of visa-free travel to Turkey, planned for this year?
If the Government cannot give this guarantee, the public will draw the reasonable conclusion that the only way to avoid having common borders with Turkey is to Vote Leave and take back control on 23 June.
Finally can you confirm whether it is Government policy not to seek any further reforms of EU ‘free movement’ laws and regulations?
Yours sincerely,
Michael Gove MP
Boris Johnson MP
Gisela Stuart MP
Why isn’t this front page news in every newspaper,or has it got a “D” notice attached to it.The Government lied to the country and the treason law should be re-instated so they can be brought to justice,The first law T Bliar got rid of when he became PM
Was this actually published by the Leave campaign at the time?
I don’t recall such an effective marshalling of the facts on Turkey’s accession.
If not, why not?
And if so, why did it not become better known?
This was widely discussed at the time and was really a canard. There was no chance of Turkey joining the EU as it failed all but one of the conditions of membership. Lots of discussion if you search but here’s one:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/23/turkey-isnt-joining-the-eu-but-voters-are-right-to-be-angry/
I
“There was no chance of Turkey joining the EU”
What?
There was no chance of a certain treaty being signed because several referenda produced “No” results.
So the EU ignored its own rules and “got round” the “problem”.
There was no chance that Greece would join the Euro because it failed all the criteria. So the Greeks produced the other set of books which showed that they met the criteria, this was accepted and Greece joined the Euro despite other states knowing that the figures were falsified.
Because that’s how the EU works, it cheats, it lies, it ignores inconvenient votes or opinions.
The EU has a long history of deceit, remember the “Common Market”?
If the EU establishment thinks it can let Turkey join the EU and get millions of Islamic voters into EU states and vote for “more EU” it will do so. Talks were resumed almost immediately after the UK referendum.
Due to the current appetite for less EU shown by Brexit and the rise of anti EU parties elsewhere it would help the EU cause to get Turkey into the EU ASAP regardless of the consequences.
The name for this action is treason. The EU is, by its very existence, a traitorous institution.
Turkey is well on the way to becoming an extreme Islamic State.
Turkey has been our enemy for most of the past 1400 years.
Turkey will probably become an enemy again, soon.
We need no more Muslims in Europe, Muslims currently in Europe must leave, the EU must die.
Sorry – that should be Turkey has been our enemy since 23 May 1453.
Islam has been our enemy for 1400 years.
Whilst I agree with you TruthSeeker, HM Government has previously sided with Ottoman Turkey (against Russia) during the Crimean war in the 1850s and Turkey is a NATO ally, though as Turkey further Islamises it is hard to see how this can continue to be the case.
The British relationship with Islam and Turkey was completely different from that of the Med countries as we were never under any threat. We are conspicuously absent from the Battle of Lepanto, for example.
In fact Good Queen Bess entered into a pact with Morocco that endured until c1725. As we were not colonial adversaries, we never had reason to go to war. During the Victorian era, the Empire propped up Turkey resulting in the Crimean War. It was the German’s replacing us that led to them joining them and effectively ending the Ottoman Empire at which point we picked up a lot of its parts. They remained neutral in WW2 (but signed pacts with us) as they feared a Russian invasion.
And that’s it until VERY recently.
Turkey has become sucked into the mess. I never saw a hijab in Istanbul in 1980. Complete opposite now. The move to becoming a reactionary anti-democratic Islamic state meant they could never join the EU. The coup was the last throw of the dice by the western elements in Turkey. It’s not an enemy we should wish for.
(Wiki has copious links on the subject)
I
“(Wiki has copious links on the subject)”
Copious links, I do not know whether this remark is supposed to be helpful, patronising or sneering.
“meant they could never join the EU”
The same, baseless, assertion you made the first time.
No denial of my statements that the EU has a history of having policies and taking actions which are contrary to the needs and wishes of West European people.
Which side are you on?
Invicta, it’s not quite accurate to say Turkey was neutral in WW2. They waited until February 1945 to declare war on the Axis powers, so that they could be included in the post war peace dividends.
Turkey is now almost Christian-free. This is a country that was once majority Christian. This same fate awaits us, as our politicians are unable to think beyond their noses.
Meanwhile
Turkey appoints permanent imam for Hagia Sophia; will lead five daily prayers
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/10/turkey-appoints-permanent-imam-for-hagia-sophia-will-lead-five-daily-prayers
Hagia Sophia is now a mosque. I wonder if the AB of C is happy with that event.
NCBBC
“our politicians” are traitors, UKIP excepted, and need to be treated as such.
My sincere apologies for being wrong.
One Suzanne Evans, UKIP, declares that she will make UKIP “less toxic” if elected as leader.
Toxic, for defending our people when the other parties seek to exterminate us?
Expel this person now.
UKIP, is one of few non toxic organisations in the UK. Or at least it was until this demonstration of treason by Evans was broadcast.
“For god’s sake look after our people” Robert Falcon Scott, final Antarctic journal entry.
The rivers must become bloodstained.
“One Suzanne Evans, UKIP, declares that she will make UKIP “less toxic” if elected as leader.”
‘Toxic’? Sounds a bit like ‘nasty’?
“REMIND YOU OF ANYONE, MRS MAY ???!!!”
Turkeys voting for Christmas
UK: Migrant’s foster mother finds he isn’t 12-year-old “refugee” but 21-year-old jihadi
A FOSTER mum who took in a child refugee has told of her horror after discovering he was a 21-year-old jihadi.
Kind-hearted Rosie welcomed Jamal into her family after social workers said he was a 12-year-old orphan who had fled Afghanistan.
But she became suspicious when she noticed how hairy he was, and how adept he was at firing a rifle.
Jamal was rumbled when a dentist estimated he was a decade older than claimed. Taliban material and child abuse images were later found on his mobile.
The blunder comes after migrants claiming to be children were bussed to the UK from Calais’ Jungle camp. It is feared terrorists could use the same ruse.
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/10/uk-migrants-foster-mother-finds-he-isnt-12-year-old-refugee-but-21-year-old-jihadi
When mass immigration from Third Worlders invade into countries that do not follow or subscribe to their ideology or culture, it will destroy that country with a very short time. The indigenous peoples of those countries will be eventually overwhelmed by the alien incomers and quite quickly the way of life and laws that had presided for hundreds of years will be dismantled to instigate laws followed by the immigrant population, as is being seen in parts of Europe/UK already. What do we do? Firstly resist in allowing any more Third Worlders inc children into our lands-repatriate as fast as is possible and get indig/breeding numbers up. We really are up against it, when you have a controlled media intent on encouraging subjugation and total appeasement with aided total mollification without condemnation of any kind. If I see that fellow Marr any more I shall not be responsible for my actions!
Given that Muslims vote as a block, directed by the mosque, all it will require for the UK to adopt Sharia, is for the Muslim population to reaches 30% or so of the total. Sharia will be made the law via parliament.
Its not far now.
This is the catastrophe that our stunningly stupid politicians have led us to.
100% subscribe to your comment NCBBC-apart from the people walking with eyes wide shut, a government controlled by those that want to develop a global one order situ, are using Islam to do their dirty work aided of course by the controlled Media-I really do not believe that the general public fully appreciate just what is going on right under their noses. No attention has been paid to the words of Kadafi whose prophesy that Europe would be taken over by the teachings of Islam in less than 25 yrs-our lot have paid attention to Liberal/Multiculturalists and see what mess they are making of everything. It is one bloody mess. We are sinking under the weight of our population and its demands on services and the crumbling infrastructure, yet we appropriate £43 Billion to overseas aid !! Completely mad-that money is so badly needed here in the UK. Moronic people governing us. Right that’s my blast over.
Its not so much Turkey joining the EU as us joining ‘them’. Its one of the largest states in what they would call ‘Neue Europe’ and is only fringe European (at best), it would be like us joining Turkey and investing in its regional aspirations (which coincidentally) are all war zones of the middle east. The EU had plans for ‘wider’ EU integration before it flipped under Gaddafi and it was all hastily abandoned. The rest is history and Turkey still has the largest Army in Europe (and a not a very reliable member of NATO). The EU has no Army but will surrender to a greater cause. A European Socialist State is something the Arabs don’t want to encourage regionally, although Islam will drag us all there eventually. Turkey is one such direction we would be mad to invite, hence EU interest in praising all things Turkish.
Thank goodness the ‘leave’ camp won!