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Accession of Turkey to the European Union positions
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At present there are twenty-eight member states within the European Union, most of which play a crucial part in the unions overall success. Although during the past decade five countries have made an application to become EU members, none have waited to join as long as Turkey has. Turkey have been applicants to join the European Union since 1987 and although many believe that they have proven they are stable and could bring positives to Europe, there are still those who think otherwise. This essay will explore whether or not Turkey should be allowed to join the EU or has their past and current reputation began to hinder this. This essay will also discuss the public and political disputes surrounding the matter.
Turkey’s two main cities Ankara
Not only would it strengthen trades, it would also regenerate positive relationships with quickly developing areas such as Central Asia, which would be an overall optimistic move for the European Union. Turkey already has a lively democracy and there are ranges of political parties who represent the views of the Turkish people. Since Turkeys founding in 1923 the Government have practised a strong value of secularism. This exhibits to the rest of the world that Turkey takes its religious and political affairs seriously and that no religion is above the law. The possibility of EU membership has helped Turkey move forward and shift away from archaic politics and improve the issues regarding human rights. Another reason Turkey should be admitted to the EU is because they are a country that
By sharing borders with these countries the EU get involved in conflict that is not necessarily to do with them. To further this if the European Union agreed to allowing one ‘non European’ country to join, it would then give precedent for other countries to begin applying for membership. Although if Turkey did join the European Union it would bring a huge 70 million more people in, this is not a good thing. Economists suggest that Turkey is too large for the European Union to manage and the predicted population by the year 2050 will exceed 91 million. With this in mind, if Turkey were to join the European Union, it would cause a large strain on the European Union. – ADD Economists
The benefits of the European Union outweigh the costs. Ever since the end of World War II, countries in the EU have been helped economically, politically, and culturally.
With a GDP of 18.3 trillion US dollars for the EU, that is, a quantity of money and about one trillion dollars higher than the US! (Document A)! According to Document A, the European Union's highest GDP is 3.9 trillion and Germany in the lead! Germany had essentially joined the EU because for more money. There are a lot of benefits of joining the EU, maybe just to have a lot of money, or be a more powerful strong country and not to be a hovel.
The European Union is an example of successful political globalization as there is stability in the region. The European Union has united several countries, specifically “twenty seven European countries” (Davies 1) and there has been benefits to this system. There has been a “reduction in crime, a rise in population, life expectancy and income as well as an improving government.” (Rich 3). Through this political system there has been improvement in not only in the government but in the people’s wellbeing.
While taking the class of Early Modern European History there was two states that really stuck out and peaked my interest the most. They were the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe. If you compare and contrast both the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe during the 16th Century through the 18th Century, you will see that there are a number of similarities as well as differences when you look at the expansion of the states. You will also see many of these contrasts as well when you look in terms of each states military and commerce. Although the Ottoman Empire existed before the 16th century and continued to exist past the 18th century and in great decline until the early 20th century, when looking at the state as a whole the time period of 1500’s through the 1700’s is a period of growth and strength. It is perhaps even known as a golden era for the state, when taking in to comparison the Early Modern Europeans where the same time period marks a change in how society thought and how people were treated.
Islam has been a dominant force throughout Turkish history. During the Ottoman Empire, Islam ruled every part of the theocratic state, but after the demise of the empire, Turkey's rulers led the country away from political Islam. The modern Turkish state has a strictly secular government, and Islam has been relegated to the personal sphere. Although Turkey has experienced a rise in fundamentalism in the past twenty years, the separation of church and state has remained relatively intact. Even with this increase of fundamentalist Islam, the wide majority of Muslims in Turkey are moderate and tolerant. They have adapted to modern life and value Islam for its moral and spiritual messages. Islam is a guide for right living and ethical conduct rather than a political system. Turkey constantly struggles to balance Islamic life with a secular government. Although the government wants to maintain a strict separation between religion and politics, it cannot ignore the power and influence that Islam has in the lives of the Turkish people.
To start with, what is the meaning of the Single Market? According to European Commission website, Single Market indicates the EU as one territory that has no internal borders or any other controlling complications that lead to the free movement of booth services and goods (The European Single Market - European Commission, 2017). According to the same source, single market has great benefits. It encourages competition and trade, increases efficiency, promotes quality, as well as helps in cutting the prices. In addition, the same source considers the European Single Market as one of the EU’s ultimate accomplishments that powered the economic growth and made the everyday life of European businesses and consumers easier (The European Single Market - European Commission, 2017).
In order to be a member of the European Union, an applying nation must first meet the requirements of membership as described in the Copenhagen Criteria. There are geographic, democratic and economic criteria. Geographically, the applying nation must be classified as a European nation, as exemplified by Morocco’s rejection. The applying nation must also have a secure and functional democratic government that only acts in accordance with the law. This means that any citizen should be able participate in the political system and that there are free elections with a secret ballot. The government must also respect human rights and have protection policies for minorities, meaning that a persons’ inalienable rights are protected by law and minority groups can retain their culture and language without discrimination. Economically, a country must have a functional market economy on which it can feasibly support itself and other member nations if need be. The country’s economy needs to be able to compete on a global scale and deal with economic pressures. There are also separate guidelines for countries wanting to convert to the Euro. Finally, countries that want to join must agree to uphold laws and regulations t...
...: Reassessing Legitimacy in the European Union. Journal of Common Market Studies, 40 (4), pp. 603-24.
The European Union (EU), since the initial foundation in 1952 as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and throughout periods of development, has been considered one of the most advanced forms of regional integration. It, based on numerous treaties and resolutions, has strived to promote values such as peace, cooperation or democracy, and in 2012 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for having “contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe” (Nobel Media AB, 2012). Despite its struggle for promoting democracy, the EU itself has long experienced scholarly criticisms that it suffers the democratic deficit, from which its democratic legitimacy is undermined by observable problems in political accountability and participation. As the importance of legitimacy in a democratically representative institution is hardly debatable, the criticism of whether and why the EU lacks democracy has been given a considerable gravity in academia.
In turning from evaluating whether or not Turkey is Western to whether or not it could be considered as an eventual candidate for EU membership, it is necessary to consider an altogether different set of concerns. Opposition to Turkish admission from other EU member states is not inconsiderable, with large majorities of much of the EU’s electorate opposed to Turkish membership. However, what must be asked is whether or not Turkish membership is a reasonable goal.
?The Magic of Membership: The lure of the EU may yet settle Cyprus.? The Economist 18-24 Jan. 2003.
...olutionist reforms proved permanent, and gave Turkey domestic peace and a measure of prosperity even in his lifetime. But Kemalism has also left Turkey with a divided identity - Europeanised but not quite European, alienated from the Islamic world but still a Muslim country.
...h a more integrated economy and currency. Lastly, although the EU might make Germany a target for terrorism, the greater cultural advancements brought on open borders and freer flow of information make the EU a very tempting organization. It is with all that said, then, that this scholar concludes that it would, ultimately, be more beneficial to Germany (and many other countries, for that matter) to join and strengthen the European Union.
Mulle, E.D., Wedekind, G., Depoorter, I., Sattich, T., & Maltby, T. 2013. ‘EU Enlargement: Lessons from, and prospects for’. IES Working Paper 3. Pp 8-39.
Turkey is surrounded by the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Bulgaria and Greece. It is a member of the United Nations (UN), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the G-20 Summit. Twenty percent of Turkey’s population lives in Istanbul. Development in infrastructure exists along the Aegean Sea coast in the west as well as the Tigris and Euphrates River systems in the southeast (Middle East: Turkey).