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The question makes an incorrect assertion, namely, that Turkey is part of the European Union. As of yet, Turkey has not had its application for membership (submitted over twenty years ago - April 14, 1987) 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".
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoThis is a question asking for personal opinions and as a result, you will have a variety of different opinions.
Answer 1: There are Pros & Cons
It depends on who you talk to as there are both pros and cons to Turkey joining the EU.
Pros:
1) Turkey has greatly reformed themselves over the last 10 years and has modernized quite a bit and because the crisis didn't affect them as much they could be a help to the European union
2) Many things are manufactured cheaply in Turkey so if they entered the EU this would give businesses in other European countries the ability to shift their production to Turkey to save costs
Cons:
1) The size of Turkey, with almost 75 million people this would give them a lot of power in the EU
2) Other EU countries are afraid that if Turkey becomes part of the EU that their citizens will leave the country en masse for other EU countries
3) Even thought Turkey has complied with many of the EU regulations there are still concerns about Muslim law being practiced
4) While Northern Turkey is modernized there are still many places in the south which are still very poor and underdeveloped and this would create a huge strain on EU resources to bring the southern part up to speed with the rest of the EU
5) The majority of Turkey is in Asia, only the northern tip of the country is in Europe
6) There has always been a large amount of disagreement between Turkey and Greece so it is likely that if Turkey were to look to enter the EU Greece would veto.
The question is what would Turkey get out of joining the EU. Currently they enjoy special trading status with the rest of the EU, they have great trading relations with other middle eastern countries, they are growing their economy at a rapid rate and are modernizing. More and more the residents of Turkey are starting to be less interested in joining the EU especially since they have been trying to get in for the last 40 years already and they are still a long ways off.
Answer 2: No
In my view, Turkey does not belong in the European Union as it is not a European country. This is a cultural and infrastructural issue. The Turkish people and the Turkish culture is a direct result of them being the bridge between the Middle East and Europe. The way that Turks socialize, discuss politics, and choose to live their lives is profoundly non-European. This is not to say that one form of culture is superior, but just that it is different. Turkish culture is actually most similar to Iranian culture, but both countries are very unique being neither typically Arab or typically European.
Additionally, even if Turks were more culturally European, there are several serious issues with Turkey's EU bid. Please see the Related Question below to read more about these issues (the Armenian Genocide, the Turko-Cypriot War, Kurdish Repression, Human Rights Violations, Economic Issues, Immigration Issues, and Religion Issues).
Additional Readings
Please also read the article below discussing the failure of the Turkish government to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoBecause they think it can improve their economy. It'd be easier for for citizens of Turkey to look for work abroad, it would be cheaper to import stuf from other EU countries into Turkey and it woudl be cheaper to export stuff from Turkey into other EU countries.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoNo, Turkey is not going to be in the European Union. The main reason is because they are an Asian country, not a European country. This would open the gate for countries all around the world to request entry, thereby ruining the integrity of the union. There are other reasons as well, such as social and cultural differences between Turkey and Europe (especially Germany).
Wiki User
∙ 10y agobecause they treat women as 2nd class citizens
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoYes, but has not dealt with the major issues obstructing its admission.
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