Will Europe Open Its Doors - Arguments and Implications for Turkey's Accession to the Eu?

Will Europe Open its Doors?

Arguments and Implications for Turkey's Accession to the EU

The possible accession of Turkey to the European Union is at the center of the controversy surrounding the EU's enlargement. Given the disparate histories of the EU member states, Turkey's own complex and battle-scarred history, and nationalistic considerations, the question of whether Turkey will ultimately be accepted as an EU member, with full rights and privileges, is one to which there are few clear-cut answers.

The debate surrounding this issue continues to gain momentum both in Turkey and in the European Union. France, with President Nicholas Sarkozy in the forefront, has taken a lead in opposing Turkey's prospective membership in the EU. The referendum on the EU Constitution brought to the fore the French public's reservations (Gauthier-Villars and Champion). Mr. Sarkozy stated, "I have not changed my mind: Turkey has no place in Europe, ... If I pose the question of Turkey, there will be no simplified treaty" (qtd. in "Sarkozy"). Sarkozy's comments are reflective of concerns not only about whether Turkey meets the EU's political criteria for accession, but also concerns that the Turkish accession will not be able to be managed in a way similar to other enlargements. Critics of Turkish accession also contend that "Turkey is too big, too poor, with too dangerous borders and insufficiently 'European' to join the Union" (Hughes 1). An analysis of the historical context, along with the arguments for and against Turkish membership in the EU, is essential to identifying the possible political and economic implications of Turkish accession to the EU for the Union itself.

History of Turkey's Bid for EU Membership

Since Turkey was founded in 1923, it has been known as a secular democracy, with a predominantly Muslim population and strong ties with the West. Only 2% of Turkey's territory lies within the European Continent, according to Professor Sophie Meritet, in her lecture on the EU's structure. Journalist Susan Sachs writes, "Turkey has been an associate member of the European Union for more than 40 years and a full NATO member for even longer. But its path to the European Union had been blocked by its longstanding conflicts with neighboring Greece, its occasional military coups, human rights shortcomings and recurring financial crises" (par. 16). Without a doubt, Turkey has encountered several obstacles in its bid for full EU membership.

The web site Euractiv.com provides a chronology of some events involved in Turkeys' bid for accession to the EU. This history is crucial to understanding the issues currently at play. The first significant step came in February 1952, with Turkey's full membership in NATO. In 1959, Ankara applied for associate membership in the European Economic Community and, in 1963, signed the Ankara Agreement, which integrated Turkey with the European Customs Union and acknowledged Turkey's ultimate goal of full EEC membership. The first financial protocol was also signed in 1963, followed by the signing of the Additional Protocol and the second financial protocol in Brussels in 1970. In January 1973, the Additional Protocol became effective, setting out how the Customs Union would be established. With Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in 1974, and the military coup d'etat on 12 September 1980, relations between Turkey and the European Community came almost to a standstill in the early 1980s ("EU-Turkey Relations"). A turning point was reached in September 1986, when the Turkey-EEC Association Council meeting resumed the association process and, in April 1987, Turkey applied for full EEC membership.

The European Commission responded in December 1989 with a refusal to begin accession negotiation. Although confirming Ankara's eventual membership, Turkey's economic and political situation, as well its poor relations with Greece and conflict with Cyprus, were cited as creating an unfavorable environment with which to begin negotiations ("EU-Turkey Relations"). Yet Turkey was eventually declared a candidate in December 1999. At the Copenhagen summit in December 2002, the EU outlined the political and economic conditions that Ankara would have to satisfy before formal accession talks could begin. The so-called Copenhagen criteria require that Turkey have a functioning market economy and stable institutions that guarantee democracy, the rule of law, and human rights (Phillips).

With the 2002 election of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), a pro-European party with Islamist roots, a number of reforms led to increased political and economic stability. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who became Turkey's Prime Minister in March 2003, made it a priority to prepare Turkey for eventual EU membership, and passed several constitutional and judicial reforms to that end. (Solana 12). As Turkey's political reforms continued, the EU leaders agreed on December 16, 2004 to start accession negotiations with Turkey beginning in October 2005.

Despite an attempt by the Austrian government to offer Turkey less than full membership, EU accession negotiations were officially launched, and Turkey has closed its first chapter in negotiations in June 2006 ("History", pars. 8-9). In spite of this, Turkey encountered several roadblocks along the way. Specifically, these included strained relations with the Kurds in northern Iraq and separatist PKK guerillas who resumed fighting following a ceasefire (Zakaria 45). Another major challenge that Turkey faced was Cyprus. Javier Solana writes, "A condition for the opening of membership talks was that Turkey extend its customs union to all the 2004 entrants, which included Cyprus. Admitting the Greek Cypriot republic without settling its dispute with the Turkish Cypriot north was, as Lord Patten concedes, 'a mistake'. A UN plan to reunite the disputed island fell apart in April 2004 when the Greek-Cypriots, who had been promised membership of the EU in any event, overwhelmingly rejected it in a referendum. (The Turkish-Cypriots, desperate to be admitted to the EU as well, endorsed it.)" (13). When Turkey refused to open its ports and airports to the Greek Cypriots, the EU suspended negotiations on eight of the 35 "chapters" in the membership talks (Gorvett 40).

The impact of Turkey's 2007 parliamentary elections on further EU-Turkey negotiations remains to be seen. Solana writes, "Mr. Rehn insists that this is not a train-wreck, noting that good technical progress is being made and a new chapter will be opened shortly. ... He suggests that the right course