{"id":65466,"date":"2013-02-15T15:31:01","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T13:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/?p=65466"},"modified":"2016-12-28T16:04:03","modified_gmt":"2016-12-28T13:04:03","slug":"eu-squanders-100m-on-train-line-in-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2013\/02\/15\/eu-squanders-100m-on-train-line-in-turkey\/","title":{"rendered":"EU squanders \u00a3100m on train line in Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"

BRUSSELS bureaucrats have handed more than \u00a3100million to Turkey to build a high-speed rail link – in case the country joins the EU.<\/h3>\n
\"There
<\/span> There will be no return on investment from the railway for Brussels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The staggering sum does not have to be paid back and there will be no return on the investment.<\/p>\n

The cash is from a \u00a312.1billion fund to support nations hoping to join the EU to which Britain contributes \u00a3120million a year.<\/p>\n

News of the money for the rail link between Turkey’s two biggest cities, Istanbul and Ankara, provoked outrage last night.<\/p>\n

Tory MP Douglas Carswell labelled the EU’s decision “bizarre”.<\/p>\n

He said: “Other countries that have given money to Turkey, such as China, expect a return on their capital.<\/p>\n

“It is funny how a communist country understands the fundamental principal of capitalism while the EU elite are giving money to Turkey without looking for a return on their investment.”<\/p>\n

Euro MP William Dartmouth, Ukip’s trade spokesman, called for an end to funding for countries awaiting membership.<\/p>\n

He said: “I cannot see how this project would really benefit the EU. The fact that British taxpayers’ money is going towards funding a new railway line in Turkey when our Government is forcing huge cuts on services and infrastructure at home will no doubt appal many people.”<\/p>\n

Work on the 331-mile high-speed train line began in 2003. The EU’s European Investment Bank has so far ploughed \u00a31billion into the project in loans on top of the \u00a3100million grant.<\/p>\n

Other countries that have given money to Turkey such as China expect a return on their capital.<\/p>\n

Tory MP Douglas Carswell<\/p>\n

EU official Jean-Christophe Filori defended handing over the sums, saying the line will help European businessmen get to Ankara quickly to sign contracts.<\/p>\n

But public appetite in Turkey for joining the EU is waning and last night one of their senior officials warned they would not wait forever.<\/p>\n

Turkey’s chief negotiator on EU accession Egemen Bagis said his country was committed to joining the 27-member bloc but admitted they were not in favour of adopting the euro currency – despite it being a condition for entry.<\/p>\n

Mr Bagis touted Turkey’s sway in the Middle East as a major boon for Europe should it be allowed to join the EU.<\/p>\n

via EU squanders \u00a3100m on train line in Turkey | World | News | Daily Express.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BRUSSELS bureaucrats have handed more than \u00a3100million to Turkey to build a high-speed rail link – in case the country joins the EU. The staggering sum does not have to be paid back and there will be no return on the investment. The cash is from a \u00a312.1billion fund to support nations hoping to join […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":65467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[846,21,94],"tags":[8125,901],"class_list":["post-65466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-eu-members","category-uk","tag-eu-aid","tag-financial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}