If Greece exits euro zone, add Turkey

marketWatch,

Watche the video HERE

If Greece ends up leaving the euro zone, as the nonstop flow of “Grexit” rumors suggest might just happen, Turkey should take its place.

Now, there are all sorts of historical reasons—wars and outright hatred and whatnot—for why the Aegean neighborhood would not take kindly to such musical chairs.

But on paper, at least, it’s an attractive idea.

Europe, as we’re consistently told, needs more economic growth, not just this Teutonic hardline fiscal austerity stuff.

And Greece, as we all know, doesn’t have much of the growth factor.

In fact, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday that Greece’s economy will be in hock to growth by just over 5% in 2012.

Turkey, on the other hand, has quite a lot of growth. A very China-looking amount in 2011 at 8.5%, actually. Crisis defines Poland, Turkey appeal

That’s going to cool off somewhat in the next year or two, but it’s an expansion rate that you’d have to think that most of Europe would rub its collective hands in glee over. MarketWatch Special Report: The New Tigers

Turkey’s status as a Muslim-world power throws up some hurdles for the xenophobes in Berlin and Paris, admittedly, but they might be willing to overlook that once they realized that the average age in Turkey is hovering around the 28-and-change level, far below the European average.

With a German-sized population of nearly 80 million, that’s a lot of fresh blood to pay for Europe’s aging, pension-taking citizenry.

As the chief executive of Turkcell, Süreyya Ciliv, put it to me recently in Istanbul: “We have a tremendous [economic] engine here . . . It’s [EU ascension for Turkey] a win-win scenario. For them. And us. Even now.”

As European leaders in Brussels this evening embark on yet another dinnertime summit, they might do well to look up from their soup and reach for the Turkish delight.