Should turkey join the European Union?

Résumé du document

Many people believe that the debate regarding Turkey's adhesion to the European Union (EU) is modern and recent; it actually goes back quite a long time. As a matter of fact, it dates back to the 1960s; the issue was raised in 1963, when Turkey signed a customs union with the E.U. This agreement, mainly economic, mentioned that Turkey would eventually join the EU in the years to come. The same year, the President of the European Commission declared that "Turkey [was] part of Europe" and that "one day, a final step would be made: Turkey would be a full member of the European Commission".

In 1987, Turkey officially asked for its admission ; however, at the time, the Commission considered the admission to be premature because of its economic and political situation. However, the candidacy was not completely rejected.

In 1992, the Copenhagen criteria were defined by the members of the EU. Those criteria have to be respected by a country planning on joining the EU. For example, the criteria demand the existence of a market economy, the respect of Human Rights and democracy. Turkey did not respect the latter condition and its candidacy was rejected again. Finally, in December 1999, the Council declared that Turkey was a country that had a vocation to join the EU, and in 2001, an "admission partnership" was signed. In 2005, the negotiations regarding the membership of Turkey opened. It is possible to notice that this problem was not present with other countries waiting to join the EU: for example, in 2004, ten new countries became members of the EU without referendum or so many questions. Turkey is treated in a different way. The very controversial issue about the possible adhesion of Turkey to the European Union has been for quite a while now the object of many debates between the members of the Union.

Extraits

[...] Cultural and religious differences between Turkey and European countries seem to create a wide gap that will be hard to overcome in order to integrate Turkey in the E.U. The social and economic situation of the country also raises problems for the Turkish adhesion. Turkey is not yet as developed as countries of the E.U may be. Its economic delay could drag down the whole economic system of the Union and this is why some countries are opposing the adhesion of Turkey. [...]

[...] Only a very small portion of its territory with Istanbul included) is located in Europe, the rest of the country is officially part of the Asian continent. Thus, the Turkish adhesion to the E.U appears to be quite irrelevant. Perhaps would it be much more logical if the Turkish government started to strengthen its diplomatic, economic and political bounds to the E.U, then cared to establish a privileged relationship between those two political identities, instead of trying to join the EU. The Christian religion is one of the major points of the European identity. [...]

[...] But more recently, relations between the two entities seem to be less tense. As a matter of fact, Turkish authorities have started to acknowledge the fact that the 1915 conflict with the Armenian people was indeed genocide. Though most of the Turkish population is still showing some hostility towards Armenians, the government has moved forward, and wishes to establish a diplomatic and respective relationship between Turkey and the Armenian minority. The Turkish President: Abdullah Gül went in October 2009 to a football match opposing his country to Armenia and taking place on the Armenian territory. [...]

[...] This censorship is particularly strong concerning the speeches about the respect of Human Rights, which is a burning question in Turkey. Then, it has been noticed that many political parties find difficulties to create themselves, and to try to constitute a serious opposition against the governing party which has been at the head of the state for many years. At the present time, the governing party is the AKP, an Islam-conservative party, which is said to be threatening secularism and going to the opposite direction of real democracy. [...]

[...] The Council's purpose is to promote the respect of Human Rights. Turkey is also supposed to defense these Rights. The country is also integrated into an european structure which can favour the implementation of mechanisms leading to the adhesion. Turkey has the same weight and pratically the same influence in this Council as countries member of the E.U such France or Germany for example. It also seems Turkey is a full member of this Council and can be considered as a full european country. [...]