Turkey's struggle to join the EU does not much fire the keyboards of Pave correspondents. Nor those of the American press. So why do we keep revisiting this topic (here, here, and here)?

Because we believe the fate of Turkish accession will determine whether Islam and the West can peaceably meet up.

Jack, who is reported to support Turkey's EU bid, seems to enjoy being openly duplicious about Turkish membership:

CHIRAC INSISTS FRANCE CAN TORPEDO TURKEY EU MEMBERSHIP

PARIS October 10, 2004 (AFP) - France reserves the right to veto Turkey's entry into the European Union "at any moment," President Jacques Chirac told state television Sunday in an interview during a state visit to Beijing.

The French parliament would be consulted on the issue of Turkey's membership, he promised, stressing that in negotiations with Ankara "at any moment France can withdraw, can apply a veto, or can refuse... At that moment, the negotiations end. We are thus totally free," said Chirac, who has previously stated he personally favours Turkey eventually joining the European bloc.

"In any case, the French will have the last word through a referendum if it goes to that point," he said. "And it's a matter that will not be discussed for another 10 or 15 years at the earliest, if it is at all."

We can't imagine what Jack's not supporting Turkey would look like.

VISITING TURKISH MPS ‘SURPRISED’ AT FRENCH HOSTILITY TO EU BID

PARIS October 13, 2004 (AFP) - Turkey received a boost to its hopes of membership last week when the EU Commission in Brussels recommended a start to negotiations.

"We are surprised at the debate going on in France," said Onur Oymen, a parliamentary deputy of the centre-left People's Republican Party (CHP):

"You'd think we were still talking about whether Turkey should join the EU, but that was settled more than 40 years ago in 1963 with our Association agreement (with the then European Economic Community), then in 1999 when Turkey acquired the status of a candidate for membership."

That was last year. Since then the "new impulse" government has taken up the reins of France, and it is maneuvering to dump Turkey. Not outright. But in a series of second thoughts and ginned up pre-conditions. Here's the latest French afterthought:

TURKEY MUST RECOGNISE CYPRUS: DOUSTE-BLAZY

PARIS August 4, 2005 (AFP) - French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy confirmed on Thursday his country's position that Turkey must first recognise Cyprus before being allowed to enter into EU accession talks.

Douste-Blazy told Le Monde that France's stance was predicated on the "new element" of Turkey signing up to a customs union on July 29 with the 10 newest EU members -- including Cyprus -- while stressing that the agreement did not amount to recognition of Cyprus.

That, he said, was "a unilateral gesture that poses a serious problem."

"To not want to recognise a country in the Union while wanting to enter it is just not acceptable," the minister said.

All of which is so much French horse hockey:

Officials in Ankara said [the French government's] comments violated commitments made at the EU summit in December last year, which set October 3 as the date for the entry negotiations to start and did not make recognition of Cyprus a precondition.

The same point was underlined by British and commission officials, with a UK diplomat pointing out that President Jacques Chirac had explicitly said signing the Ankara protocol did not mean recognition of Cyprus.

Britain and Brussels insist that recognition of Cyprus, divided since the Turkish invasion of 1974, is a separate issue to be settled within the UN framework.

TURKEY REBUFFS FRENCH DEMANDS AHEAD OF EU TALKS

The war of words between Turkey and France over Ankara's EU aspirations turned increasingly ugly yesterday... Clearly vexed by France's insistence that Turkey diplomatically recognise the divided island before negotiations begin on October 3, Mr Erdogan said any new conditions placed on Turkey before the talks would be "unacceptable".

Mr Erdogan, who has staked his political future on the EU negotiations, said Mr Chirac had been warned by Turkey that it would not recognise Cyprus when the bloc decided at a crucial meeting last December to open the membership talks.

In an unexpected volte-face, the French president was said to support his prime minister's remarks...

Ah, Mr. Erdogan, welcome to the false world of Lying Jack Chirac.