Will the EU have to accept Turkey if they fill all the criteria?

Answer 1

No, not yet. The EU is still debating whether or not Turkey should be accepted. As of yet, Turkey has not had its application for membership (submitted over thirty years ago) accepted by the European Union. There are five main reasons given for the European Union's failure to accept the bid.

1) Turkish Failure to Recognize the Armenian Genocide:Many states in the European Union have recognized the Armenian Genocide as a fundamental denial of human rights against the Armenians. The Turkish Government currently espouses the view that while there may have been some indiscretions, it does not rise to the level of genocide. However, this view runs contrary to nearly all established scholarship outside of Turkey. Additionally, Turkey compels many world governments to not to accept the term "genocide" using its critical location and foreign policy as weapons against taking this view.

2) Turkish Invasion and Occupation of North Cyprus: In 1974, the Turkish army launched an amphibious assault in Cyprus to protect Turkish Cypriots from an increasingly pro-Greek Cypriot majority. In 1974, the UN established a ceasefire line which has divided Cyprus into northern and southern halfs. To this day there has been no formal peace treaty. Turkey has also moved 200,000 Turkish citizens to the north of Cyprus in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. (Considering that the population of Cyprus is only 1.1 million, this is a huge population transfer.) Being in a state of war against an EU member state, which Cyprus is, and occupying the de jure territory of Another Country are both violations of the terms of accession to the European Union

3) Turkish Repression of the Kurdish Minority: Kurds represent between 15-25% of the overall Turkish citizenry. They have a unique language, culture, and society from ethnic Turks. Many aspects of Kurdish culture are actively restricted. Their language was illegal for many decades as was the right to name their children with Kurdish names. Some Kurdish cities have been renamed in order to "Turk-ify" them. Some Kurds have risen in rebellion against the Turkish government, but far many more have attempted to have a peaceful discussion with the Turkish government. However, the Turkish government has assassinated numerous Kurdish politicians attempting to make peace and improve the situation. This maltreatment of a significant minority is appalling to European Union member states.

4) Turkey's Poor Human Rights Record: There are limits on the Freedoms of Speech and the Press in Turkey. The Justice System is relatively corrupt and the Prison System is badly maintained. Additionally, there are extra-national executions (where a person is sent to another country to be executed since capital punishment is illegal in Turkey) and relatively common applications of prisoner torture. There are military barracks near most Turkish cities in order to prevent protests and riots. Turkey is a liberal democracy in comparison to most Middle Eastern countries, but not in comparison to the much greater transparency and freedoms in most of the remaining European Union countries.

5) Turkey's Developing Economy: Turkey is a developing economy whereas most of the European Union has a developed economy. Since the European Union is first and foremost an economic union and then a superstate structure, having an economy that operates along different principles from most European economies makes accession more difficult.

There are two additional reasons cited by Turks and their sympathizers as to why their bid has not been accepted.

1) Economic Competition: Although Turkey is a developing country, it has a population larger than every current European Union member other than Germany. Turkey's economy is growing at a very high rate and Turkish infrastructure is completely evolving. Additionally, due to European Union internal migration laws, many Turks would likely migrate to other European countries without VISA issues. This would lead to competition for employment opportunities between citizens of other European Union countries and Turkish migrants. The fear of the growing Turkish economy and the migration of Turks to other countries makes many Europeans wary of Turkish accession.

2) Islam: There is currently no member in European Union which is a majority-Muslim country. Given Europe's frigid reception of Muslim immigrants, many Turks say that the primary reason that they have not been allowed to become a part of the European Union is that their religion and culture have been labelled as "different" and "non-European".

Answer 2

Answer 1
As of yet, Turkey has not had its application for membership (submitted in 1987) accepted by the European Union. Turkey was not recognized as an official candidate for accession until 1999, which was fourteen years ago. There are five main reasons given for the European Union's failure to accept the bid.

1) Turkish Failure to Recognize the Armenian Genocide: Many states in the European Union have recognized the Armenian Genocide as a fundamental denial of human rights against the Armenians. The Turkish Government currently espouses the view that while there may have been some indiscretions, it does not rise to the level of genocide. However, this view runs contrary to nearly all established scholarship outside of Turkey. Additionally, Turkey compels many world governments to not to accept the term "genocide" using its critical location and foreign policy as weapons against taking this view.

2) Turkish Invasion and Occupation of North Cyprus: In 1974, the Turkish army launched an amphibious assault in Cyprus to protect Turkish Cypriots from an increasingly pro-Greek Cypriot majority. In 1974, the UN established a ceasefire line which has divided Cyprus into northern and southern halfs. To this day there has been no formal peace treaty. Turkey has also moved 200,000 Turkish citizens to the north of Cyprus in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. (Considering that the population of Cyprus is only 1.1 million, this is a huge population transfer.) Being in a state of war against an EU member state, which Cyprus is, and occupying the de jure territory of another country are both violations of the terms of accession to the European Union

3) Turkish Repression of the Kurdish Minority: Kurds represent between 15-25% of the overall Turkish citizenry. They have a unique language, culture, and society from ethnic Turks. Many aspects of Kurdish culture are actively restricted. Their language was illegal for many decades as was the right to name their children with Kurdish names. Some Kurdish cities have been renamed in order to "Turk-ify" them. Some Kurds have risen in rebellion against the Turkish government, but far many more have attempted to have a peaceful discussion with the Turkish government. However, the Turkish government has assassinated numerous Kurdish politicians attempting to make peace and improve the situation. This maltreatment of a significant minority is appalling to European Union member states.

4) Turkey's Poor Human Rights Record: There are limits on the Freedoms of Speech and the Press in Turkey. The Justice System is relatively corrupt and the Prison System is badly maintained. Additionally, there are extra-national executions (where a person is sent to another country to be executed since capital punishment is illegal in Turkey) and relatively common applications of prisoner torture. There are military barracks near most Turkish cities in order to prevent protests and riots. Turkey is a liberal democracy in comparison to most Middle Eastern countries, but not in comparison to the much greater transparency and freedoms in most of the remaining European Union countries.

5) Turkey's Developing Economy: Turkey is a developing economy whereas most of the European Union has a developed economy. Since the European Union is first and foremost an economic union and then a superstate structure, having an economy that operates along different principles from most European economies makes accession more difficult.

There are two additional reasons cited by Turks and their sympathizers as to why their bid has not been accepted.

1) Economic Competition: Although Turkey is a developing country, it has a population larger than every current European Union member other than Germany. Turkey's economy is growing at a very high rate and Turkish infrastructure is completely evolving. Additionally, due to European Union internal migration laws, many Turks would likely migrate to other European countries without VISA issues. This would lead to competition for employment opportunities between citizens of other European Union countries and Turkish migrants. The fear of the growing Turkish economy and the migration of Turks to other countries makes many Europeans wary of Turkish accession.

2) Islam: There is currently no member in European Union which is a majority-Muslim country. Given Europe's frigid reception of Muslim immigrants, many Turks say that the primary reason that they have not been allowed to become a part of the European Union is that their religion and culture have been labelled as "different" and "non-European".

Answer 2
There are two main sides to the Turkish accession to the European Union. One is allowing Turkey to accede, and is mainly supported by the British. The other is obviously denying Turkey's accession, mainly supported by the French and the Germans.


1) Accepting Turkey's Accession: The British are the main leaders of the pro-Turkish accession. They are for Turkey's accession to the European Union for one main reason: because Turkey is an emerging market, and has the potential to be one of the largest markets in the world. Turkey is currently one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a growth rate of 8.50%. This rate is almost as much as China's 9.2%, which is perhaps the most widely known fastest growing economy in the world. Some believe Turkey will bring financial success to the European Union, and could even help with the present European debt crisis.

2) Denying Turkey's Accession: The French and the Germans are the main leaders of the anti-Turksih accession. They are against Turkey's accession to the European Union for several reasons, ultimately the same. They do not believe Turkey should be considered a European or Europeanized country, Turkey is a Muslim-majority country, and Turkey will eventually surpass Germany in population, resulting in the most seats in parliament. Only 3% of Turkish land is present in Europe's borders, which is the least of any of the five transcontinental countries between Europe and Asia. They regard Turkey more of a Middle Eastern nation than a European nation. They also compare Turkey's bid for accession to Morocco's previous bid, where they consider neither country to be European enough to actually join the European Union. The next major argument is that if Turkey were to join, they'd eventually surpass Germany in population, becoming the most populous EU country, thus gaining the most seats in EU parliament, ultimately having the most say. They do not believe a Muslim-majority and arguably Middle Eastern nation should hold this amount of power in the European Union.

Answer 3

No. The European Union will not have to accept Turkey if they fill all of the relevant criteria. Like all countries that join the European Union, Turkey will have to sign an Accession Agreement with the European Union and the EU can refuse to sign if certain treaty terms contrary to EU-interest are raised.

Answer 4

Yes, it was submitted over twenty years ago - April 14, 1987.

Answer 5

of course