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Turkey Off The Euro Map
Turkey has been wiped from the map on a revised design of the two-Euro coin, it was claimed yesterday.
The new coinage, already in circulation in Slovenia, includes part of Russia and dictatorships like Belarus, but excludes "a democratic country like Turkey with whom accession talks are ongoing" said two Italian liberal MEPs.
The EU Observer reports the European Commission's reply:
"The idea was to have a new design that would be a more stylised design, rather than a true geographical representation of Europe, which admittedly is more difficult to represent on such a small surface", said commission spokesperson Amelia Torres. She countered that is was "pointless" to comment on the point of Turkey's apparent exclusion.
It's the first revision of the Euro coin since the single currency came into circulation in 2002. As it is likely to be at least another five years before Turkey even approaches full membership of the EU (if ever!), there's plenty of time for a redesign to bring the country into the Euro-focus once again.
This isn't the first time that Euro coins have caused controversy. The new map might offend the Turks, but the original one Euro coin appeared to depict the Scandinavian nations as a full set of male genitals.
