In article <1993May24.134245.1@vax1.bham.ac.uk> ivrissimtzis@vax1.bham.ac.uk writes:  >Turkey may be "more" underdeveloped if you wish, but that was not the issue.  Funny you should mention. That's the whole point 'paliks' invariably miss.    Source: 'United Nations, Human Development Report,' 1990.  Annual Output Per Person in Dollars Adjusted to Purchasing Power Parity: Turkiye, Greece and Chile are in the same category. That is, $3,000 - $5,999.    Source: 'International Economics: Theory and Policy' by Paul R.         Krugman and Maurice Obstfeld, Harper Collins Publishers,         1991, (second edition).  In terms of 'Annual Output Per Person in Dollars Adjusted to  Purchasing Power Parity,' Greece is in the same category with  Turkiye.   Indeed, Greek Governments have enormous problems to tackle. The  economy is in shambles, corruption is rampant, air pollution is  in outrageous dimensions, state-sponsored terrorism is the name  of the game and infrastructure is decaying. Another insightful  article in the New York Times (Sunday, April 7) exposes the dirty  linen of Greece, and describes her as the pariah of the European  Community. The article reports that ''...with un-European antics, Greece uses the Community as a cash register. She squanders, and at times even steals the European tax payers' money for political   featherbedding at home. The principal members of the Community admit that it was a mistake to accept Greece to the European Community.'' This affirmation is testimony to the fact that notwithstanding her geographic location, Greece is un-European in mentality and attitude.   Indeed, during the last 12 years, Turkiye registered a great  success with regard to economic restructuring. A sound economy,  ready to be integrated to the world economies, has emerged,  succeeding to the faltering one, witnessed in the '70s.  Just 12 years ago, Greece used to export double as much as  Turkiye did. Now inversely, Turkiye's overall exports exceed  by far that of Greece. As far as the tourism incomes are  concerned, we are witnessing the same phenomenon.  The governments in Turkiye have put a particular emphasis on  the infrastructure investments (rather than investing in world terrorist organizations), thereby solving this issue  completely. Indeed, in the '70s, it was out of the question  to conduct a telephone call from Eastern Anatolia to the West.  Nowadays, this is not the case at all, and in a far remote  town, even in a village you may have, at any time, a long-distance  call to any given country.  However, the same could not be applied to Greece. In fact, it is not so easy in Athens to have a trunk call to Germany round the clock. And if you happen to be in the Greek islands, then your chance will be pretty slim. Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to argue that Turkiye is far ahead of  Greece in regard to telecommunication facilities. Greece, by virtue of its full membership, has enjoyed all advantages of the EC, obtaining huge grants and extensive subsidies.  Turkiye, having no access at all to similar financial supports, has nevertheless managed to create a better economy which  enabled it to produce consecutive current accounts surplus over the last two years. As such, Turkiye deserves to be the only country in its region having permanent current accounts surplus.    Serdar Argic