Following the victory for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan in Sunday’s elections, GSF Advisory Board member and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw MP writing in the Times argues the case for Turkey’s EU membership: ‘…Turkey is now the dominant actor in the region and increasingly influential on the world stage. The UK has been honourable and strategic in its support for Turkey. Not so France, Germany and others on the Continent who have effectively blocked Turkey’s EU negotiations….The one loser from these elections is the EU. At a time when it desperately needs strong allies to help to ensure a benign outcome to the Arab Spring, it is myopic in the extreme for its leaders to appear to be turning away from the strongest, richest and most democratic state in the wider Middle East.’  The full article can be accessed (subscription required) by cutting and pasting this link:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/article3060935.ece#