French President Nicolas Sarkozy once made headlines with the remark, "If Turkey were Europe, we would know it." In July, European Commission president José Manuel Barroso gave voice to similar European sentiments in a Greek newspaper interview: "Let's be honest," he said, "Turkey is not ready to become an EU member and the EU is not ready to accept Turkey as a member. Neither tomorrow, nor the next day." Despite the overwhelmingly positive European response to Erdogan's recent triumph at the polls, and calls to revamp Turkey's political and economic reforms by European leaders, one fact remains clear: Turkey's membership in the EU is as elusive as ever.
Would a Muslim nation of 72 million joining the EU serve to create a dichotomy of two distinct civilizations? Turkey's membership hinges upon introducing an array of political reforms in the areas of civil rights, free speech, and gender equality, as well as changes in its acceptance of general European values. Starkly different in a number of social and political arenas, Turkey stands worlds apart from Europe. ...
|