Ah. Now it all comes clear. The EU is anxious to get Turkey in because Turkey’s military would make the EU a world-class military power. This coalesces exactly with Bat Ye’or’s finding — explained in the soon-to-be-published Eurabia — that the European Commission decades ago conceived of its cooperation with the Arab League as a means to become a global counterweight to the United States.
From Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in The Age, with thanks to JE:
Brussels leaders name a date for final talks on admitting the European Union’s first Muslim member.
Advocates of the European Union as a fully fledged superpower have predicted that the addition of Turkey’s military would make it a true global player.
Ankara’s forces are greater than those of France and Britain combined, with 514,000 men under arms and 380,000 in reserve, plus a robust air force with American fighters.
A NATO official described the forces as “very experienced and well-trained”, after years of battles against Kurdish guerillas.