Turkey and the EU

SIR – Despite being a staunch and informed supporter of Turkey's full membership in the European Union, you seem now to conclude that Turkey is moving away from Europe (“Flying in the wrong direction”, May 6th).

I very much disagree. A comparison with only four years ago would go a long way in explaining how Turkey has in fact been moving into the core of Europe. Just consider how many taboos have disappeared from the scene in Turkey. The acquis of the EU is being adopted, and our accession process has so far been much less problematic than expected by some. The European Commission has praised the performance of our team.

Additionally, we are creating and sustaining this dynamism on the heels of one of the most successful economic stories of our time. Turkey has grown by no less than 35% in cumulative terms in the last four years, substantially decreasing the difference in economic performance that exists between it and the EU.

Turkey's commitment to the process of accession is as firm as ever. Notwithstanding a certain reticence we encounter in parts of Europe, those who desire to see Turkey fully integrated in Europe are more steadfast. In fact, I see your newspaper as being at the forefront of that effort, as you end your analysis on the right note, by wisely calling on Europe's leaders to reassure Turkey. I hope your call will be heeded.

Abdullah Gül

Deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs

Ankara, Turkey

Trade and Brazil

SIR – It is a factual error to assert that Brazil's decision “to stress relations with countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia” has yielded “meagre results” (“The diminishing of Brazil”, May 13th). Between 2002 and 2005 Brazilian exports to Africa rose by 153% and imports from Africa by 149%. With the Middle East the increases were 84% and 75% respectively, and with Asia 111% in both cases. The total value of Brazil's exports to these regions rose from $13.4 billion to $28.8 billion, while imports increased from $12.1 billion to $26 billion.

Brazil's total exports in this period virtually doubled (from $60.3 billion to $118.3 billion), due mainly to the expansion in trade with the developing world. These countries absorbed 43% of Brazilian exports in 2002, but by 2005 the figure had risen to 53%.

Ricardo Neiva Tavares

Press secretary

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Brasília, Brazil

Bring me your unfree

SIR – The suggestion that Europe may lack a “robust culture of free speech and free personal behaviour” is an understatement (“Heading for the land of the free”, May 20th). More accurately, Europe's citizens must assume a posture of deference to Islam, or forfeit their lives. Now the dissidents are leaving. We in America welcome free spirits like Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Send us more!

John Barker

Reno, Nevada

Bush and Blair

SIR – Is the root of America's problems at home and abroad truly “incompetent execution” on the part of its current president (“Axis of feeble”, May 13th)? I think not.

We Americans gave up on the myth of a single, competent ruler over 200 years ago. Our problem is a feeble, incompetent Congress that has shirked its responsibility to ensure that the executive branch of government does not become too powerful. What we Americans need is not a strong John McCain or Hillary Clinton. We simply need our Congress back.

Roger Brewer

Honolulu, Hawaii

SIR – George Bush and Tony Blair may have had their day, but they set in motion a series of events that cannot and should not be reversed. The events of September 11th have defined the 21st century in the same way that the shot heard around the world in 1914 defined the 20th century. Mr Bush and Mr Blair looked to the future, didn't like what they saw and decided to do something about it.

Roy Weston

Vancouver, Canada

SIR – Please do not ever mention George Bush. And Winston Churchill in the same sentence again, even if you must break all the rules of grammar to do so.

Steve Pettit

California

San FranMoscow

SIR – You suggest that St Petersburg “rivals Moscow as the capital of race hatred” in Russia (“Playing a dangerous game”, May 13th). As anyone who has spent time in the more remote parts of Russia will attest, Moscow and St Petersburg are by far the most tolerant and cosmopolitan cities in Russia. Even though they are less well documented, the levels of xenophobia in places like Novokuznetsk and Voronezh make Moscow seem like a Slavic version of San Francisco for groups at risk.

Vanessa Rampton

Geneva, Switzerland

Download depression

SIR – There is nothing particularly forward-looking about Jimmy Iovine's defence of a flat rate of 99 cents per song (Face value, May 6th). By siding with Apple against the other major labels on variable pricing for music online, Mr Iovine may well be shooting himself in the foot. For the first time, the music industry is in a position to maximise revenue with megastar releases selling at a higher price than the music of lesser-known artists.

In the offline world, competition between retailers has pushed prices down to a uniform low level. With Apple's iTunes becoming almost a single point of sale for online music, variable pricing could, at last, help the recording industry by better reflecting demand. Even if that move proves somewhat unpopular with younger consumers, research by IPSOS and others suggests that the online market is being colonised in droves by older folks.

Peter Alhadeff

Berklee College of Music

Boston

A Googly

SIR – Google seems to be following the same line Ronald Reagan took with the Russians in the 1980s (“Is Google the new Microsoft?”, May 13th). Reagan speeded up the break-up of the Soviet Union by forcing it to spend beyond its means on weaponry to defend against perceived, but actually unreal, threats such as the Star Wars programme.

In much the same way, Google is throwing up many cheap-but-flashy initiatives that force Microsoft to spend huge sums in order to contain perceived, but probably illusory, market threats. Can we not anticipate the same outcome: the break-up of software's acknowledged evil empire and the emergence of its captive technologies into the world of fair competition?

Alan Tobey

Berkeley, California

Prosperous or free?

SIR – Mr Lee Kuan Yew judges the strength of a country by its economic prosperity (“A rational choice”, April 22nd). Other people prefer to do it by its people's liberty.

Katha Chalotorn

Bangkok