Sir, I disagree that, concerning the opposition to Turkey’s accession to the EU, “the issue is Islam” (leading article, December 18). There are also issues of integration and migration.

Muslims constitute about 13 million of the EU population. They have had considerable difficulty integrating successfully into European societies. Their integration has been impeded not just by the deep significance of Islam in their daily lives, but also by the multicultural policies of successive European governments.

When Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain joined the EU, they used foreign investment and the aid that accompanied admission to create enough jobs to prevent large-scale migration. It is difficult to see how Turkey, with its dismal economic record and burgeoning population, could possibly accomplish such a feat.

Yours faithfully,
RANDHIR SINGH BAINS,
34 Shere Road,
Gants Hill, Essex IG2 6TG.
rs__bains@hotmail.com
December 19.

From Vice-Admiral Sir Louis Le Bailly

Sir, You say (leading article, December 18) that some people fear that tensions “would be exacerbated by the admission of a Muslim country to a union of countries sharing a Christian heritage”.

The EU makes no mention of Christianity in its constitution and, sadly, is becoming increasingly secular. On March 3, 1924, under Mustafa Kemal’s presidency the grand national assembly in Ankara formally disestablished the Muslim religion from the State and abolished the caliphate.

The typically juvenile approach of the EU compares unfavourably with the way Turkey was welcomed into the League of Nations in 1932. Further, unlike most other United Nations members except for the US and a bankrupt Britain, Turkey provided a formidable force for the UN in defence of South Korea.

Yours truly,
LOUIS LE BAILLY,
Garlands House, St Tudy,
Bodmin, Cornwall PL30 3NN.
December 19.

From Mr Jonathan Dawid

Sir, Many people argue that Turkey can never belong to the EU (report, December 17) because it is not in Europe. It does not border the North Atlantic either, yet this was never advanced as a reason for keeping it out of Nato.

One should never confuse geography with diplomacy.

Yours faithfully,
JONATHAN DAWID,
67 Andrewes House,
Barbican, EC2Y 8AY.
December 17.

From Mr Robert Randell

Sir, Unlike the West, the Islamic bloc has no core state around which power can be aggregated and focused. Turkey has the potential to become that state. It is, then, a strategic imperative that she becomes locked into the secular, democratic structures of the EU and, therefore, the West.

The military importance of Turkey was recognised by the founders of Nato. It seems odd that France et al fail to perceive that country’s political importance in the emerging geopolitical order.

Yours faithfully,
ROBERT RANDELL,
6 Rose Court,
22 Kirkdale, Sydenham, SE26 4NF.
December 18.

From Mr David Shepherd

Sir, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia may arguably all be part of Europe, but why is Israel, with entries in the European football competitions and the Eurovision Song Contest, also deemed to be a European country?

The answer, I suspect, is that Europe is a concept not of topography but of culture — hence the French reservations about Turkish entry.

Yours,
DAVID SHEPHERD,
42 Westland Way,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1YF.
dshep@tiscali.co.uk
December 17.

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