The Republic of Turkey is a Eurasiatic state that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan part of southeasterly Europe. This state borders eight states. viz. Bulgaria to the Northwest ; Greece to the West. Georgia to the nor’-east ; Armenia. Azerbaijan. and Iran to the E ; and Iraq and Syria to the sou’-east. The state is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus to the South ; the Aegean Sea and Archipelago to the West ; and the Black Sea to the North. Separating Anatolia and Thrace are the Sea of Marmara and the Turkish Straits. which are normally reckoned to define the boundary line between Asia and Europe. and thereby doing Turkey transcontinental.

Due to its strategic location astraddle two continents. Turkey’s civilization has a alone blend of Eastern and Western tradition. A powerful regional presence in the Eurasiatic land mass with strong historic. cultural and economic influence in the country between the European Union in the West and Central Asia in the E. Soviet union in the North and the Middle East in the South. Turkey has come to get increasing strategic significance.

The European Union ( EU ) is a political and economic community of 27 member provinces. located chiefly in Europe. It was established in 1993 by the Treaty of Maastricht. adding new countries of policy to the bing European Community. With about 500 million citizens. the EU combined generates an estimated 30 % portion of the world’s nominal gross domestic merchandise ( US $ 16. 6 trillion ) in 2007.

The EU has developed a individual market through a standardised system of Torahs which apply in all member provinces. vouching the freedom of motion of people. goods. services and capital. It maintains a common trade policy. agricultural and piscaries policies. and a regional development policy.

Fifteen member provinces have adopted a common currency. the euro. It has developed a function in foreign policy. stand foring its members in the World Trade Organization. at G8 acmes and at the United Nations. Twenty-one EU states are members of NATO. It has developed a function in justness and place personal businesss. including the abolishment of passport control between many member provinces under the Schengen Agreement.

EU operation is a loanblend of intergovernmentalism and supranationalism. In certain countries it depends upon understanding between the member provinces. However. it besides has supranational organic structures. able to do determinations without the understanding of members. Important establishments and organic structures of the EU include the European Commission. the European Parliament. the Council of the European Union. the European Council. the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank. EU citizens elect the Parliament every five old ages.

In line with its traditional Western orientation. dealingss with Europe have ever been a cardinal portion of Turkish foreign policy. Turkey became a member of the Council of Europe in 1949. applied for associate rank of the EEC ( predecessor of the EU ) in 1959 and became an associate member in 1963. After decennaries of political dialogues. Turkey applied for full rank of the EEC in 1987. became an associate member of the Western European Union in 1992. reached a Customs Union understanding with the EU in 1995 and has officially begun formal accession dialogues with the EU on October 3. 2005.

It is believed that the accession procedure will take at least 15 old ages due to Turkey’s size and the deepness of dissensions over certain issues. These include differences with EU member Republic of Cyprus over Turkey’s 1974 military intercession to forestall the island’s appropriation to Greece. Since so. Turkey does non acknowledge the basically Grecian Cypriot Republic of Cyprus as the exclusive authorization on the island. but alternatively supports the Turkish Cypriot community in the signifier of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Turkey began full rank dialogues with the European Union in 2005. holding been an associate member since 1963. and holding reached a imposts brotherhood understanding in 1995. Meanwhile. Turkey has continued to further close dealingss with the Eastern universe. peculiarly with the provinces of the Middle East and more late with the new Turkic democracies in Central Asia.

Two major political issues for the EU are European integrating and expansion. Expansion. the accession of new provinces to the EU. is a extremely politicized issue. Supporters argue it aids democracy in new members. every bit good as back uping the European economic system as a whole. Oppositions fear the EU is spread outing beyond its current political capablenesss. and/or cultural boundaries. Public sentiment. and therefore political party point of view. has been more disbelieving towards expansion since the coincident accession of 10 members in 2004. This is most acute in relation to the campaigning of Turkey.

I believe that the rank of Turkey to the European Union would significantly lend to both Turkey itself as a state and the European Union as a regional association. The issue of expansion is one of the hottest and extremely politicized issues in the EU.

The credence of new provinces to the European Union would so be of greater advantage instead than a disadvantage for the association. Acceptance of Turkey and other provinces by the European Union would clearly convey about greater cooperation between Turkey and the other members of the EU. moreover. the turning mass choler among the Turkish populace against the EU will be put to an terminal one time that the EU accepts Turkey as a full member.

Furthermore. Turkey’s confederation with the EU in battling panic will do great bitterness among terrorist organisations like Al-Qaeda. Turkey’s full rank in the EU would make a justification to the parts being made by the Turkish populace. The mark of the bombs in Istanbul in November 2003 was the British bank HSBC. the British General Consulate and the temples. But the full Turkey has paid the monetary value. Turkey can shift itself to a less seeable point in the war between the West and the fundamentalist Islamists like Al-Qaeda so as non to be considered as a mark. If full rank will ne’er go on. there is no ground for Turkey to pay the monetary value in be-half of the West.

“Nothing remains inactive for long ; you either alter and travel frontward or you slip backwards. This simple truth has governed the thought of those who shaped the European undertaking since its earliest beginnings. From the first twenty-four hours in 1951 when the European Coal and Steel Community was established. alteration and advancement have ne’er stopped. conveying us today to a European Union of 25-plus. with a incorporate Single Market and a common currency for those in the euro. Yet of late we can besides detect marks of stagnancy – or possibly a fright of the hereafter. to be more precise – among big sections of the population in states that were among the EU’s initiation provinces.

This was the attitude that led to the No ballots in the referendums in France and Holland. when popular opposition to farther expansion and to severely needed EU reforms became so glaringly obvious. In other words. European reaction to the many radical alterations taking topographic point around the universe under the across-the-board term ‘globalization’ has been mind-boggling. reminiscent of that celebrated call “stop the universe. I want to acquire off” .

Such frights may be apprehensible. but the dangers for Europe of standing still are greater than of all time ; the demand to maintain up the gait of alteration has ne’er been so great. There is a clear demand for Europe to run into two distinguishable challenges. First. to go on the EU expansion procedure. Second. to accommodate to globalisation by implementing all necessary reforms. Failure to convey in campaigner states from Europe’s problem musca volitanss would make even greater difficulties” ( George Vassiliou. former President of the Republic of Cyprus. )

One of the major solutions to the EUs’ job in the expansion procedure is for them to take in Turkey as a full member. Turkey. holding one of the highest criterions in economic system in the universe would non be a load to the EU. Alternatively. full rank of Turkey to the EU would be good to both parties in assorted ways.

With respects to the Turkish economic system ; states such as Greece. Spain and Portugal have used tremendous financess from the EU budget so far. It is now Poland which seems a great load for the EU. The Gallic husbandmans. who have been subsidized from the EU financess for decennaries. were the group which prevented the blessing of the EU fundamental law despite its fiscal part to them.

Turkey. on the other manus. has been the state which contributed the most to the EU economic system. leave entirely being a load. Turkey is the first and lone state which entered the Customs Union without being an EU member. Turkey has given up one million millions of dollars of gross from usage revenue enhancements in favour of the EU. Today. though apparently funded by a few EU financess. Turkey can non even counterbalance for the part it has made to these financess. In short. Turkey hasn’t achieved anything thanks to the EU.

For those who have favored Turkey’s EU procedure. one of the most of import grounds has been taking the EU as a democratic theoretical account. Turkey would hold been more democratic once it had entered the EU. harmonizing to the pro-EU groups. Ironically. those who voice anti-democratic demands in Turkey are animating from the EU now. Both the US and the EU have turned out to be transgressing the human rights in battling panic more than Turkey has done. In this instance. Turkey’s EU quest pushes Turkey to a tougher point. non to democratisation.

Turkey is presently the 17th largest economic system in the universe and it has achieved this success independent of the EU. Today. the Turkish business communities are non anticipating any aid from the EU. Their lone demand is stability and they anticipate that stableness will more increase one time Turkey enters the EU. However. it is quiet clear that the EU doesn’t want to see Turkey as a full member and that it merely procrastinates Turkey. The EU gives promises to Turkey. marks understandings with Turkey and the Turkish economic system adjusts itself consequently. When the dealingss are good. foreign investings flow into Turkish economic system. But the EU’s inconsistent policies earnestly harm the stableness of Turkish economic system.

When Turkey becomes a full member of EU. there will be no more demand for the EU to implement its inconsistent policies to Turkey. and therefore this would ensue to economic stabilisation of the Turkish state. from which both Turkey and EU would profit.

Mentions

Findley. Carter Vaughn ( 2004 ) . The Turks in World History. Oxford University Press. USA.

Hale. William Mathew ( 1994 ) . Turkish Politicss and the Military. Routledge UK.

Mango. Andrew ( 2000 ) . Ataturk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey. Overlook.

Nugent N. ( 2005. August ) University of Miami: The Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series: Turkey’s Membership Application: Deductions for the EU.

Rubin. Barry M. ; Heper. Metin ( 2002 ) . Political Parties in Turkey. Routledge UK.

Turkey in Europe: more than a promise. Retrieved: April 26. 2008. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. soros. org/resources/articles_publications/publications/turkey_2004901/english. pdf