Word: greeks
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...short-lived. Just days after the Pope's remarks, Olli Rehn, the E.U.'s Commissioner for Enlargement, recommended that the E.U. suspend a portion of Turkey's membership talks just 13 months after they began. The reason: Turkey's continued unwillingness to open its ports to ships from the Greek-controlled half of the disputed island of Cyprus. [an error occurred while processing this directive...
...Greek Cypriot shipping has long been a contentious issue in Turkey's E.U. debate. Several months ago, Rehn warned that Turkish obstinacy about it could lead to a "train wreck." With no change in Turkish policy since then, Rehn has suggested that the European Commission, the 25-member executive body of the European Union, vote to suspend eight of the 35 tracks (called chapters) of the negotiations aimed at bringing Turkish institutions up to E.U. standards. Britain, Spain, Italy and other countries that have long supported Turkish accession argued for a milder penalty, while France pushed for as many...
...through reforms to improve the rights of the Kurdish minority and strengthen civilian control of the military - measures that helped convince the E.U. to open membership talks in the first place. But he seems unwilling to back down on Cyprus. Erdogan has agreed to lift Turkey's restrictions on Greek Cypriot ships and planes only if the E.U. follows through on its promises to ease trade restrictions on the Turkish Cypriot?controlled part of the island...
...Turkish government limits our role, and places serious constrictions on us," says Father Alexander Karioutsos, of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. "We have a church whose body is greater than its head, because its head cannot grow...
...Chief among Greek Orthodox grievances is the closure of a seminary to train priests on Halki island, just off Istanbul. Turkey closed the school in 1971 in line with strict secular laws that prohibit private religious higher education. Priests are currently trained in the U.S. and Greece. "Sure we can train priests elsewhere," says Karioutsos, "You can train a Catholic priest anywhere in the world, but training at the Vatican is completely different. We have a strong spiritual and historic connection here...