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The Germans have had enough of this and when they can (couldn't in Greece, even though the population suffered) they let others share in the pain. Cyprus along

The Germans have had enough of this and when they can (couldn't in Greece, even though the population suffered) they let others share in the pain. Cyprus along with Dubai is known as a place to send your hard stolen billions so you could understand the goodwill towards them. Edited to add: Cyprus also doesn't make it easy for EU. EU has master plans, namely more or less to get along with Turkey to the extent they can, and to start the remaining Eastern European countries in the EU path. Cyprus were let in EU as a divided country, only after Greece (their sister /mother country) threatened to veto any new other members unless. Once Cyprus got in they threatened veto against cooperation with Turkey, the other part of the island etc., making work much harder for EU and especially NATO. US would like for EU and NATO to cooperate but Turkey is a member of NATO but not EU and Cyprus is a member of EU but not NATO. Both can veto but Turkey has a million man strong army, and has been a NATO asset for 60 years. In other words, they were in for some payback. A tiny country played the entire EU for fools for a long time. http://www.bing.com/search?q=Turkey+eu+cyprus+veto&#38 http://www.bing.com/search?q=Turkey+eu+cyprus+veto&

magoghm 14y ago
I don't know what was the specific reasoning behind what they did, but I believe it might turn out to be the worst decision ever in the history of banking. How are the people in Greece, Spain & Italy going to react when they hear about this? Will they decide to take preemptive measures (take their money out of the bank) before the same thing happens to them? Note: I am not claiming that the same thing will happen in other countries, only that people in other countries might be concerned about the posibility of it happening and decide to do something to protect their money.
- hkmurakami 14y ago
  not to mention that it only takes a small (almost minimal) proportion of withdrawls to do significant damage to the health of the banking system.
- 1337biz 14y ago
  My grandparents were born in Europe throughout the second world war. They always "warned" me not to keep too much money in the bank as when times get tough it is going to be worthless. Always thought that this was kind of a war-generation mindset, but the Cyprus situation makes me actually believe that they are not that much off after all.
  - waterlesscloud 14y ago
    Yeah, my great grandfather, who was an adult during the Depression, literally buried money in jars on his land. Having seen something happen probably changes your perspective on things.
    - reinhardt 14y ago
      Unfortunately moving money from banks to jars can't stop TPTB from making it worthless by inflating the $hit out of it overnight.
      - tomjen3 14y ago
        Gold.
        darkarmani 14y ago
        Because gold never goes down in value.
seanmcdirmid 14y ago
I'm just curious, are you Turkish? Not that I disagree with you, but it does seem to be one of those issues that seems to be charged by one side or the other.
- rolleiflex 14y ago
  I am Turkish, so I might be able to offer some commentary. What is said is essentially correct, but I'm more reluctant to assume this is the reason why. Turkey has a long way to go and many other problems to solve before it can become an EU member, and Europe has its own problems too. Cyprus is too unimportant for both sides to care about right now. When Turkey's time comes for the full membership and agreed by both parties and if the Cyprus remains the only roadblock, the heat from Turkey and EU can sink the entire island in one day so it is likely that they will cede. In the meanwhile, it's a convenient excuse. However the other issues facing EU membership of Turkey are pretty serious, so they'll be able to play this game for a while. The problem facing Turkey is, essentially, when or if the country joins the European Union, it's going to take around 1/4 of the chairs in the European Parliament (it's based on population, Turkey is about the same size as Germany population-wise), effectively becoming an instant major player in EU decisions alongside UK, France and Germany. This upends the power balance in Brussels. While on paper Turkey looks like an another regular Eastern European acquisition for EU, it is in effect a larger process than the entire history of acquisitions combined because of political, cultural and populace implications. Even then, Turkish population has largely soured by the 30-year-long waiting at the gates game, and they are not as likely to accept then shown the financial implications of an EU membership. Considering Turkey has largely been impervious to financial perils of the EU (chugging along with a fine 5% growth rate through it all) and also considering GDP wise it is now one of the Top 20 economies in the world, with the second largest army of NATO after the United States, an EU membership, once a dream, is starting to look like not that good of a deal. Turkey is essentially the thing that stands between perpetual war and dictatorships of Middle East and "civilised" Europe.
  - jballanc 14y ago
    I am not Turkish, by birth, but I am Turkish by choice (I currently live there)... This is a really good summary, but I think you're downplaying the importance of Cyprus a bit. Yes, Cyprus is a bit of a pawn, but it's an increasingly dangerous pawn. The other angle to the Cyprus question is the discovery of gas reserves off the coast, the debate over who has rights to exploit those gas reserves (since the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus controls the north, but is only formally recognized by Turkey), the deals that the Greeks and Greek Cypriots have struck with Israeli firms for the exploitation of said gas, the recently soured relationship between Turkey and Israel (who have been traditional allies), and the desire of the current Turkish government to become a champion for the middle east and/or (depending on how you spin it) the Muslim world. Cyprus may just be a tiny island, but it increasingly seems to become the focus of so much of what is going on in the region. That said, I agree that the whole relationship between Turkey and the EU has become...complicated. It is interesting the reversal of fortunes that has led to the situation going from one where the EU was reluctantly working with Turkey on accession in 2005 to one where Turkey is the reluctant partner today. As distasteful as it might be to some in the EU, I think it's become clear that Turkish accession to the EU would be the best outcome for the EU.
kyriakos 14y ago
regarding Cyprus being let into the EU you got it all wrong. Cyprus is used as an excuse by Germany and France who don't want to allow Turkey in the EU. If Cyprus wasn't there to veto Turkey's accession then Merkel would have to come up with some other creative excuse for not letting a Muslim state into a Christian Club.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- OGinparadise 14y ago
  regarding Cyprus being let into the EU you got it all wrong. There is no need for that, France has made it clear that they will veto Turkey's bid, and many other countries will follow (IMO correctly). As for how Cyprus got in, let's go back to where the Greek side promised a "Yes" vote on unification of the island only to vote "No" when EU voted to let "Cyprus" in, a divided island. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3654919.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3654919.stm Now of course Turkey isn't going to make it easy for them given that oil and gas is being found.
  - kyriakos 14y ago
    if you take it that way, Turkey only thing it has to do is follow EU regulations to open its ports to all EU member countries and the barrier of entry will be lifted. essentially its Turkey locking itself out by not doing what every other member state has done in order to be able to join.

magoghm 14y ago

I don't know what was the specific reasoning behind what they did, but I believe it might turn out to be the worst decision ever in the history of banking. How are the people in Greece, Spain & Italy going to react when they hear about this? Will they decide to take preemptive measures (take their money out of the bank) before the same thing happens to them? Note: I am not claiming that the same thing will happen in other countries, only that people in other countries might be concerned about the posibility of it happening and decide to do something to protect their money.

hkmurakami 14y ago
not to mention that it only takes a small (almost minimal) proportion of withdrawls to do significant damage to the health of the banking system.
1337biz 14y ago
My grandparents were born in Europe throughout the second world war. They always "warned" me not to keep too much money in the bank as when times get tough it is going to be worthless. Always thought that this was kind of a war-generation mindset, but the Cyprus situation makes me actually believe that they are not that much off after all.
- waterlesscloud 14y ago
  Yeah, my great grandfather, who was an adult during the Depression, literally buried money in jars on his land. Having seen something happen probably changes your perspective on things.
  - reinhardt 14y ago
    Unfortunately moving money from banks to jars can't stop TPTB from making it worthless by inflating the $hit out of it overnight.
    - tomjen3 14y ago
      Gold.
      - darkarmani 14y ago
        Because gold never goes down in value.

seanmcdirmid 14y ago

I'm just curious, are you Turkish? Not that I disagree with you, but it does seem to be one of those issues that seems to be charged by one side or the other.

rolleiflex 14y ago
I am Turkish, so I might be able to offer some commentary. What is said is essentially correct, but I'm more reluctant to assume this is the reason why. Turkey has a long way to go and many other problems to solve before it can become an EU member, and Europe has its own problems too. Cyprus is too unimportant for both sides to care about right now. When Turkey's time comes for the full membership and agreed by both parties and if the Cyprus remains the only roadblock, the heat from Turkey and EU can sink the entire island in one day so it is likely that they will cede. In the meanwhile, it's a convenient excuse. However the other issues facing EU membership of Turkey are pretty serious, so they'll be able to play this game for a while. The problem facing Turkey is, essentially, when or if the country joins the European Union, it's going to take around 1/4 of the chairs in the European Parliament (it's based on population, Turkey is about the same size as Germany population-wise), effectively becoming an instant major player in EU decisions alongside UK, France and Germany. This upends the power balance in Brussels. While on paper Turkey looks like an another regular Eastern European acquisition for EU, it is in effect a larger process than the entire history of acquisitions combined because of political, cultural and populace implications. Even then, Turkish population has largely soured by the 30-year-long waiting at the gates game, and they are not as likely to accept then shown the financial implications of an EU membership. Considering Turkey has largely been impervious to financial perils of the EU (chugging along with a fine 5% growth rate through it all) and also considering GDP wise it is now one of the Top 20 economies in the world, with the second largest army of NATO after the United States, an EU membership, once a dream, is starting to look like not that good of a deal. Turkey is essentially the thing that stands between perpetual war and dictatorships of Middle East and "civilised" Europe.
- jballanc 14y ago
  I am not Turkish, by birth, but I am Turkish by choice (I currently live there)... This is a really good summary, but I think you're downplaying the importance of Cyprus a bit. Yes, Cyprus is a bit of a pawn, but it's an increasingly dangerous pawn. The other angle to the Cyprus question is the discovery of gas reserves off the coast, the debate over who has rights to exploit those gas reserves (since the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus controls the north, but is only formally recognized by Turkey), the deals that the Greeks and Greek Cypriots have struck with Israeli firms for the exploitation of said gas, the recently soured relationship between Turkey and Israel (who have been traditional allies), and the desire of the current Turkish government to become a champion for the middle east and/or (depending on how you spin it) the Muslim world. Cyprus may just be a tiny island, but it increasingly seems to become the focus of so much of what is going on in the region. That said, I agree that the whole relationship between Turkey and the EU has become...complicated. It is interesting the reversal of fortunes that has led to the situation going from one where the EU was reluctantly working with Turkey on accession in 2005 to one where Turkey is the reluctant partner today. As distasteful as it might be to some in the EU, I think it's become clear that Turkish accession to the EU would be the best outcome for the EU.

kyriakos 14y ago

regarding Cyprus being let into the EU you got it all wrong. Cyprus is used as an excuse by Germany and France who don't want to allow Turkey in the EU. If Cyprus wasn't there to veto Turkey's accession then Merkel would have to come up with some other creative excuse for not letting a Muslim state into a Christian Club.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
OGinparadise 14y ago
regarding Cyprus being let into the EU you got it all wrong. There is no need for that, France has made it clear that they will veto Turkey's bid, and many other countries will follow (IMO correctly). As for how Cyprus got in, let's go back to where the Greek side promised a "Yes" vote on unification of the island only to vote "No" when EU voted to let "Cyprus" in, a divided island. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3654919.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3654919.stm Now of course Turkey isn't going to make it easy for them given that oil and gas is being found.
- kyriakos 14y ago
  if you take it that way, Turkey only thing it has to do is follow EU regulations to open its ports to all EU member countries and the barrier of entry will be lifted. essentially its Turkey locking itself out by not doing what every other member state has done in order to be able to join.