Turkey Joining the European Union Essay Example for Free

dud Joining the European fusion EssayIn December 1999 washout became an official beddidate for connectedness the EU, along with a enactment of other developing countries, mainly of easterly Europe. subsequently fundamental studies of current stance in Tur blusher and its future outlooks, followed by a series of negotiations among the representatives of Turkey and the EU, it became clear that it would stop not less than a ten-spot for Turkey to make infallible reformations and meet the Copenhagen criteria.There be different opinions on the issue of practicable effects of Turkey joining the EU. The unsophisticated has numerous proponents in its desire to create a common future with the EU. nevertheless several(prenominal) political, economic and pagan riddles can create difficulties for Turkey on its way to the EU and can start out out with unpredictable effects on social wellbeing of European nations. This work is an attempt to read that Turkey joining the E U can result in a number of negative and unenviable consequences, both for Turkey and for the European union.The population of Turkey exceeds 70 one million million people of diverse social origins, and its major territories are located in Asian continent. Geostrategic location of Turkey is important, because the unsophisticated controls piloting along the Bosporus and four seas nearby. Turkey has a long and dynamic write up. The roots of Turkish nation go back to a number of early Asian civilizations united into the powerful Ottoman Empire. Modern history of Turkey started in the 1920s, when a armed services leader, Mustafa Ataturk, won the Independence war and founded the Republic setting the unsophisticated on the way of democratic development and westernization.Current Turkish economy is a mix of loaded down(p) industry and traditional agriculture. Economic indexes show that the economy is quite poor (gross domestic product is wholly $358.2 billion), unless at the an alogous time it is steadily developing (GDP addition rate is 5.2%) (CIA). Principal industries are textile, food processing, construction, digging and electronics. Also, Turkey is one of the main importers of commodities from Ger legion(predicate), Russia, Italy, China, etc. Turkey has real advanced and up-to-date communication and tape drive infrastructure, but the greatest asset of the country is its people, as well as their highly-respectable moral values.It is possible to image several major drawbacks which seriously influence the position of the EU countries toward granting Turkey the EU membership. Paul Kubicek writes in his study of the problem of Turkeys accession to the EU Turkeys supposed shortcomings are well-known it is too big, too poor, too agricultural, too authoritarian, and, perhaps above all, too Muslim (Kubicek, p.33). A specialist from capital of Sweden University Harry Flam considers political reasons to be the most important obstacle (Flam, p. 171).Accordi ng to the Copenhagen criteria, the EU membership requires stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities (Flam, p. 175). For or so last years political situation in the country has been changing since the Justice and Development Party came to the power. Its leader and current Prime-Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, proclaimed joining the EU to be one of his main political goals and directed the efforts on implementing necessary political reformations to meet the Copenhagen criteria.Turkish Constitution sets the military as the exclusive guarantor of internal security and empowers it to concern over the situation in cases of political instability or a social crisis. Certainly, such crucial role of the military does not correspond to the idea of democracy, because army should be controlled by regimen. Nevertheless, Turkish authorities do not accept this position, being supported by public opinion.Another substantial political problem is nonage and human rights. There is a large Kurdish minority with population of about 13 million people (around 20% of the countrys total population), which is concentrated in southeastern regions. Turkish government takes Kurdish nationalism as a serious threat to the existing integrity of the country. That is why Turkish laws prohibit official use of Kurdish language and other expressions of their cultural identity. For decades there were severe restrictions as to such issues as religious education, rights for communal property and others.Finally, one of the greatest obstacles on the way to the EU is refusal of Turkish government to recognize the Republic of Cyprus, a current member of the EU. Claiming for receiving the whole territory of the island, for some decades Turkey has been ignoring the Greek side of Cyprus. Therefore, as Turkey refuses to recognize a member of the EU, the negotiations with the European community can not be held. In addition , Turkey leave have a dangerous stir on foreign policy of the EU bringing the borders of the Union closer to volatile Middle East. This whitethorn affect external political affairs of the EU.Economic factors are, probably, the most depressing. Turkish economy is making progress, but still remains very poor and the situation will not improve in the nearest future. Currently Turkey reached lonesome(prenominal) 1.9% of EU25 GDP, and with average annual growth of 5%, it would be only 2.9% of GDP in 2015. Moreover, countrys GDP per capita is only 27% of the EU average (CIA). It is obvious that country with large population and poor economy will affect general economic situation of the EU. Turkey will need a lot of investments, budget transfers, special privileged tariffs, and other resources to stimulate countrys economy.A serious problem of Turkish economy, which is a point of concern of the EU specialists, is agriculture. Its part to GDP exceeds 14% and, at the same time, the major ity of task force (over 33%) employed in agriculture. But agriculture in Turkey needs considerable governmental support, which results in heavy gross burden on national taxpayers. Turkey does not have a lot of arable lands, thats why cultivation and farming are very expensive. Flam underlines possible problem for the European community, saying that the sizing of the Turkish agricultural sector threatens to be costly for EU taxpayers if Turkish farmers are to have the same terms as the farmers of the CCEC-8 (Flam, p. 186).Other disadvantages of Turkish economy include considerable regional inequality and prerequisite to restructure struggle market. Overwhelming majority of Turkish industries is concentrated on the West and the North of the country, succession Eastern parts rely more on agriculture and remain considerably underdeveloped. Turkish labor market needs to be reformatted in order to use its latent and improve low unemployment rates, peculiarly among youth and women.R eligious issue is, probably, the most controversial among the others. With its 98% Muslim population, Turkey will be the only non-Christian community in the EU. Undoubtedly, such a huge Muslim population will fetch to the development and acceptance of multiculturalism in the Union, but in a secular society this issue is rather complex. Turkey itself has a long history of serious difficulties and conflicts between religious leaders and the state. In addition, umteen specialists fear that Islamic conservatism and numerous traditional restrictions will cause serious pressure on personal freedoms.Many associate Muslim countries with terrorism and cruelty, but it can not be give tongue to about Turkey. The analysts argue that despite possible difficulties based on religious factor, prevalence of Islam in Turkey moldiness not be a reason for Europe to turn its back to Turkey. Kirsten Hughes writes At a time, when the war on terror is creating global tension , Turkeys relations to the EU take on a broad geopolitical significance. A rejection of Turkey by the Union would be taken as a strong negative signal by many (Hughes, p. 26).Many specialists suppose, that not only religious, but other cultural differences will bring to negative outcomes of Turkeys assertion. They think that cultural problems may cause difficulties for Turkish population when integrating into the European community. Some years ago, the chairman of the European Convention on the Future of Europe, Giscard dEstaing, said that he was against Turkish membership because Turkey had a different culture, a different approach, a different way of life and its capital is not in Europe, 95 percent of its population is outside Europe, it is not a European country. (Flam, p.176)Crowded Turkish Diaspora in Germany, which counts more than 2.5 million people, is the brightest example of this idea. Many Turks go to Germany in order to limit better life story opportunities and better-quality life. Turkish peo ple get adapted to European life-style rather fast and, usually, express no desire to be back to their poor homelands, but very frequently serious cultural disconnections take place. Turkish immigrants reject European moral norms and customs and often their children have to stand for the consequences.That is why potential migration of Turkish people to the EU is considered as a serious threat to cultural unity of Europe. Europeans call that after accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU, thousands of people from these poor countries hurried up to move to Germany, France, Italy and other developed lands to find some work and earn some money. Recent researches demonstrated that if Turkey were accepted to the EU, about 44% of Turkish population would look for better job somewhere in Europe (Kubicek, p. 38).Demographic issues can also be taken both in favor and against Turkey. It has a good population growth rate (1,06%), and more than 25% of the population are children below 14 (CI A). Thus, Turkish nation is very young, and this is quite attractive for aging European community. But, on the other hand, in case of accession, Turkey will become the most crowded country in the EU. Therefore, it will take a large number of seats in the European Parliament and become a powerful player. That is undesirable for European parliamentarians, who are aware of inflexibility and intolerance of Turkish diplomats on many crucial issues.There are many other key matters, which remain in concern of the EU experts. They include the problems of meeting the requirements as to environmental standards, or the implementation of many democratic reforms, the problems of corruption, which is especially prevalent and deep-rooted in the highest levels of public sectors. Finally, a very important problem is limitation of the freedom of expression and censorship in Turkish media.Nevertheless, it must be mentioned that currently there is a great number of positive and progressive reforms are initiated in the country. In particular, educational opportunities are becoming more equal, thats why teenagers and youth from different inappropriate areas on the East are getting more socially mobile. Democratization, together with the increase in communication, is among the key factors, which brought to a rise in awareness.Therefore, according to the Copenhagen criteria, a sequence of political and social changes must be made by Turkish government in order to see the door to the EU opened. But still there is no guarantee for Turkey on its accession. Besides, with its decision regarding Turkey, the EU relies not only on the opinion of its members, but also on the idea of other major political powers, corresponding the U.S. In Washingtons eyes, Turkey has transformed from a Cold War bulwark against Soviet aggression into a critical bridge linking the industrialized Christian West to the pre-industrial Muslim East. (Robbins, p.17).Some specialists can see possible benefits of Turk ey joining the EU, especially for dynamic and developing European community. Paul Kubicek summarizes his research on the problem Turkey the EU with the following statement Turkish membership is at least another decade away and its accession is far from assured, but the very prospect of Turkish membership presents the EU with many challenges and opportunities (Kubicek, p.32).Nevertheless, there are more problems and uncertainties which can create serious difficulties for Turkey and the EU both on internal and external stages. This thought is greatly summarized by Gerard Baker, who resumes that Fear of the economic consequences of admitting millions of relatively low-paid workers into the European labor market, together with rising concern over the dilution of European identity by an alien Middle Eastern culture makes the idea of Turkish membership highly unpopular (Baker, p.26).Works Cited Baker, Gerard. Lets not Talk Turkey Guess Who Wont Be Joining the European Union Anytime Soon. The each week Standard. Vol. 010, Issue 46 29 Aug. 2005 26-30 Flam, Harry. Turkey and the EU Politics and Economic Accession. CESInfo Economic Studies. Vol. 50, Jan. 2005 171-210 Hughes, K. Turkey and the European Union Just Another Enlargement? Friends of Europe. The European Commission. June 2007. 3 Dec. 2007. http//www.friendsofeurope.org/pdfs/TurkeyandtheEuropeanUnion-WorkingPaperFoE.pdf. Kubicek, Paul. Turkish Accession to the European Union Challenges and Opportunities. World Affairs. Vol. 3 Fall 2005 32-41 Robbins, Gerald. Germans Are Talking Turkey The European Union Is In No Rush to Expand Into Anatolia. The Weekly Standard. Vol. 010, Issue 44 2 Aug. 2006 16-17 Turkey. Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook. 15 Mar. 2007. 3 Dec. 2007. https//www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tu.html.