Should Turkey Join the EU?

Whether or not Turkey should become a member state in the EU is a topic of much debate both within Turkey itself and throughout the rest of Europe. Officially Turkey is a ‘Eurasian’ country and is considered in some ways a part of Europe while at the same time being considered an Asian country, but is not currently part of the EU. Turkey first applied to accede to the EU in 1987, and was one of the first countries to join the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. However in 1989 the EU refused to begin negotiations due to economic and political problems in the country at the time as well as their poor relationship with Greece. However the commission did state that in the long term membership was the desired outcome. In 2004 the EU then agreed to begin the negotiations and began to negotiate on the 35 chapters of the acquis communautaire (the legislation and legal acts that embody the European Union Law). This is still underway, and once this is completed all the existing member states must still unanimously agree to grant Turkey membership. But during this time, feelings within Turkey toward […]