What Is Prohibiting Turkey from Entering the Eu?

Research Paper

"What is Prohibiting Turkey from Entering the EU?"

Introduction

Each time the desired goal of Turkey becoming an EU member has seemed to be within reach, a new obstacle has sprung up... Why is this?

Let us first take a brief look at the economy, culture, religion, geography, foreign relations, government and politics of Turkey.

The region comprising modern Turkey is one of the oldest continually inhabited regions in the world, because of its strategic location at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces. Each province is divided into districts. The capital city of Turkey is Ankara, but the historic capital Istanbul remains the financial, economic and cultural centre of the country. Turkey's area inclusive of lakes is 814,578 square kilometers (314,510 sq mi), of which 790,200 square kilometers (305,098 sq mi) occupies the Anatolian peninsula (also called Asia Minor) in Western Asia, and 3% or 24,378 square kilometers (9,412 sq mi) are located in Europe. Many geographers consider Turkey politically in Europe, although it is rather a transcontinental country between Asia and Europe. Turkey forms a bridge between Europe and Asia, with the division between the two running from the Black Sea (Karadeniz) to the north down along the Bosporus (İstanbul Boğazı) strait through the Sea of Marmara (Marmara Denizi) and the Dardanelles (Ð--anakkale Boğazı) strait to the Aegean Sea (Ege Denizi) and the larger Mediterranean Sea (Akdeniz) to the south (Country Profile).

The politics of Turkey takes place within a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, in which the Prime Minister of Turkey is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The function of Head of State is performed by the President of the Republic (Cumhurbaşkanı). A president is elected every seven years by the Grand National Assembly but is not required to be a member of parliament. The current President Ahmet Necdet Sezer was elected on May 16, 2000. Executive power rests in the Prime Minister (Başbakan) and the Council of Ministers (Bakanlar Kurulu) who makes up the government. In recent years, reforms have seen an increased civilian presence on the National Security Council and efforts to defunct military's constitutional responsibilities under the program of compliance with the EU demands. Despite its perceived alleged influence in civilian affairs, the military owns strong unequivocal support from the nation, and is considered to be Turkey's most trusted institution.

Turkey's economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that in 2005 still accounted for 30% of employment. Turkey has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communications. Turkey began a series of reforms in the 1980s designed to shift the economy from a statist, insulated system to a more private-sector, market-based model. The reforms spurred rapid growth, but this growth was punctuated by sharp recessions and financial crises in 1994, 1999, and 2001. Turkey's failure to pursue additional reforms, combined with large and growing public sector deficits, widespread corruption resulted in high inflation, increasing macroeconomic volatility and a weak banking sector. Large IMF loans tied to implementation of ambitious economic reforms, enabled Turkey to stabilize interest rates and the currency and to meet its debt obligations. In 2002 and 2003, the reforms began to show results. With the exception of a period of market jitters in the run-up to the Iraq war, inflation and interest rates have fallen significantly, the currency has stabilized, and confidence has begun to return. Turkey seeks to improve its investment climate through administrative streamlining, an end to foreign investment screening, and strengthened intellectual property legislation.

The Turkish population is relatively young with over a quarter falling within the (0-14) age bracket. Life expectancy stands at 70.2 years for males and 75.2 years for females, giving an overall 72.6 years for the populace. Due to a demand for an increased labor force in Post-World War II Europe, many Turkish citizens immigrated to Western Europe (particularly West Germany), forming a significant overseas population (Country profile). Turkey has a very diverse culture that came from various elements of the Ottoman, European, and the Islamic traditions. As Turkey successfully transformed from the religion-driven former Ottoman Empire into a modern nation-state with a very strong separation of state and religion, the increase in the methods of artistic expression followed. Because of different historical factors playing an important role in defining a Turkish identity, the culture of Turkey is a combination of clear efforts to be "modern" and Western, combined with the necessity felt to maintain traditional religious and historical values.

Most of the Turkish population is Muslim, of whom a majority belongs to the Sunni branch of Islam. About 15-20% of the population is affiliated with the Alevi sect. There is also a small, but significant Twelver Shi'a minority, mainly of Azeri descent. The remainder of the population belong to other beliefs, namely Christian (Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism), Judaism, the Bahб'н Faith, Yezidism and Atheism. There is a strong tradition of secularism in Turkey. Even though the state has no official religion nor promotes any, it actively monitors the area between the religions. The constitutional rule that prohibits discrimination on religious grounds is taken very seriously. The Turkish Constitution recognizes freedom of religion for individuals, and the religious communities are placed under the protection of state, but the constitution explicitly states that they cannot become involved in the political process, by forming a religious party for instance.

Turkey's