Turkey will make Europe a better model and actor (Video). Speaker: Dominique Moisi
Arguing against the motion ‘Let’s keep Turkey out of Europe’, Dominique Moisi says he regards the debate over Turkey as part of the battle between hope and fear. Europe’s dissolution is much more unlikely than proponents of the motion make it out to be. Europe’s role in the international system is as a model and an actor; Turkey’s inclusion would make it a better model and a more powerful actor. He argues that this is Europe’s great opportunity to show the rest of the world that it does not believe in a clash of civilisations between Islam and modernity, democracy and secularism. Finally, he believes that one of Europe’s key weaknesses in the years to come will be its demography, an ageing population lacking energy. Citing the success of earlier enlargement into Eastern and Central Europe, he says that Turkey will easily provide citizens hungry for progress and economic triumph that are lacking in today’s Europe. Europe needs new blood.
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Contribution by Mr Yusuf Cinar, Ireland