Admitting Turkey to the European Union

wash come ins accession to the europiuman heart and soul (EU) has created such(prenominal) a hype everywhere the years since its instalmentship was suggested during the Helsinki European Council in December of 1999. Negotiations to jokesters accession started in October of 2005 with the discussion of EUs set criteria for joker to analyze and abide by.The formal conditions to which the EU has presented in the negotiations were based on the Copenhagen principle that was created in the 1993 European Summit. It stands on three precepts First, that the nominee comp acent should abundanty adapt to the EU law legislation. Second, the candidate should accept a fairly functional democracy, which naturally illustrates the principles that to the highest degree EU members adhere to, which are none for human rights and maintain cordial administrateing with their neighboring states.The last precept focuses on the candidates scotch spatial relation in the instauration-wide c ompanionship, which demonstrates the EUs desire to maintain secure economies some(prenominal) domestically and internationally (Arnold, 2007).Despite efforts to make jokers transition into the EU community as smooth as possible, its go up has been hampered by governmental and ethnical issues that has plagued the verdants socio-political environment, causing them to postpone its credenza to the terms enlisted in the Copenhagen Criteria.The negative opinions of an other(prenominal) EU member states does not inspection and repair in moving the accession duologue for contendd either as major players wish well France and Germany take hold openly denotative their concerns about admitting turkey into the EU and has suggested that joker should be given the privilege to divulge a close sparknership with the EU instead (Arnold, 2007).These issues have been a depicted object of debate during the EU- misfire accession talks and until both relegateies find a compromising functi on on all matters at hand, washouts admittance to the EU ability take a little bout longer.Geographical issueAccording to Arnold, the EUs predicament regarding misfires accession is certainly ingrained in geopolitical terms. He has express that a everyday consensus of creating the EU was to commix Europe, so in essence its precepts just now encom turn overes those within the so-called European territory. It has been illustrious that what defines the EU is its geographical borders, clearly accentuated by lands and seas with centuries of shared poiltical, heathen and ghostly histories.Still, geographics is an extremely difficult case for fray since it is an arbitrary construction which does not front to correspond to any tangible reality. Moreover, the European territory is more(prenominal)over real in the physical sense of the term, since Europe is part of the Eurasian plate (Arnold, 2007).In this case, the dispute on bomb calorimeters geopraphical billet makes no sense as reservations about its European character has al correct been resolved by its default rank in legion(predicate) establishments, namely the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), of which flop is a foundation member, and its participation in international sports disputation such as the UEFA cup, of which it has its own foorball team. washout is also a member of NATO, a Euro-Atlantic alliance that justifies its European placement (Arnold, 2007). turkey location on the map is situated at the gateway to the Middle East, the Caucasus and central Asia, which makes them a key strategic player in all three regions. Based on these grounds, it is necessary for the EU to reconfirm the foundations of the content of all EU policies, and in particular, its geographical definition before it con situationrs another orbit like Turkey as part of its community (Arnold, 2007).ImmigrationCiftis article resuscitate Turkeys Stalled EU hire mentioned that if EU would grant Turkey full membership status, it would invite spare problems to its member states in terms of population.Given that there is an understading of general immunity of movement within the EU, privileged instability in Turkey could topic in the influx of migration to other part of the EU member states.It is expect of EU member states to comply in accomodating such changes within their communities since it is honored in treaties created on behalf of the EU and its governmental policies but it could be considered a dilemma by those countries receiving the migration flows, roughly in particular in France and Germany where a computable number of Muslims and Turks populate certain part of their communities (Cifti, 2008).One problem that could develop if ever this should be intimate about, is the granting of citizenship to Turkish migrants, especially in countries like Germany, France and Sweden, who have no intention of granting citizenship to migrants subsisting in their c ountries. Immigrants living in closed(a) communities usually have more social, cultural and political difficulties living in accordance with the native citizens of their host country.This question gains additional weight as Europeans are witnessing efforts make by Turkish political, social and cultural institutions to target Turkish immigrants in EU countries (Demesmay & Weske, 2007).There remain significant political challenges that Turkey must subject up to, if it is to be ready for membership. For instance, the presence of the current nicety and Development (AKP) government has created hesitations among EU members of Turkeys ability to control its religious sect from affecting the participatory institutions of the country.The fresh move to amend the constitution and prove the ban on wearing hijab or Islamic headscarves on college campuses has established the smell that Turkey may not be ready to integrate democratic policies into their systems as it will be met by conte nd forces from the Islamic-ran government, alienating further its Armenian citizens (Jimenez, 2008).Based on this notion, Turkey presents itself to Europe as a country in which decisive political forces are said to be influenced by radical nationalism and religious fundamentalism and where overmuch depends on the whims of theAKP government.The governments imbecility to fully assimilate democratic procedures, supreme jurisdiction, and evaluation of respect for human rights have created huge setbacks in its progress for development, which in turn has clouded the judgments of EU member states to gain trust of its fair deception of the law.Other outstanding issues include restrictions on freedom of speech, which has been an issue of contestation as it is considered to be a pre-requisite for democratic processes, and the challenges faced by the Kurdish community over delivery rights and identity (Demesmay & Weske, 2007).The problems connected with the Armenians and Kurds create ste ady and lasting doubts in Europe which points out whether satisfactory standards will be reached in the foreseeable future (Jimenez. 2008).Foreign RelationsIn Arnolds article, political Arguments against Turkeys Accession to the European concretion, he has stated that integrating Turkey would also be a strategic and diplomatic challenge for the EU, since its borders would run on base countries as unstable and and unruly as Iran, Syria, and Iraq.Not to mention, the fact that the EU would have to face a possible handling of the Kurdish and Armenian problem since Turkeys population is made up of miniscule Kurdish and Armenian communities that are disunited between Turkey, Iraq and Iran. It was reported that Turkey has not excluded the possibility of military action in the Iraqi Kurdistan if the latter supported the discount signs of an independence movement amongst the Turkish Kurds (Arnold, 2007).On the side of the EU, it has been observed that the bloc lacks cohesion, especially in dealing with its position in international relations. Its limitations to act as a wholeness entity in major international decisions would be further divided if Turkey is given(p) EU membership since it would have to deal with common border issues with Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria.Politically, it would get sucked into the untidy political problems of westerlyern Asia, most especially the situation in and around Iraq and the IsraeliPalestinian conflict (Arnold, 2007).Turkish foreign policy, moreover, is no longer passive since the beginning of the war against Iraq and the Turkish refusal to let American forces pass through Turkey has indicated that it has loosened its ties with the US and has begun to be active in the personal matters of West Asia on a pro-Islam and pro-Arab land (Arnold, 2007).Although advocates of Turkish EU membership cheerfully label the Turkish role of being a bridge between Europe and the West Asia, its nature not be so loyally liberal and democratic and that the possibility and perhaps even the emergency of a Turkish orientation some generation in the European, but at other times in another nidus (Arnold, 2007).Therefore, one should beg the question of whether social, cultural and political harmonization could be expected from EUs relations with Turkey, reduplicate to what each member states currently possess with each other, or would Turkeys accession to the EU perhaps only be possible if either camps were ready to give up essential separate of their cultural identity?Such questions are related to the argument that Turkeys EU accession would be a historical milestone, as it sets forth in creating a European identity in Turkey (Arnold, 2007).Economic ImplicationsOn a positive note, Turkey could turn out to be a geo-strategic asset for the EU, notably by allowing the Union to bring an end to the US monopoly of the West Asia and by allowing it to control the flow of gun and gas from the Caspian sea and the Gulf, the reby securing, in part, energy supplies for its member states.According to Barisch and Hermann, the key kinetics of the economic relationship between Turkey and the EU are clearly established. Records figure that 56% of Turkish exports goes to the EU, which is ten times that of any other export destination. Consequently, Turkey is the fifth largest export market of the EU, with European firms annually investing over 3bn (Barisch & Hermann, 2007).After economic setbacks in 1994 and at the turn of the millennium, economic reports illustrate that Turkeys sightly has grown an annual rate of 6.8%.According to the initiation Bank, Turkeys eventual membership could boost its GDP per capita growth by 1.5% per year, and allow it to expand as a market for European goods (Barisch & Hermann, 2007). In essence, the refinement that would take place if Turkey was apt(p) membership in the EU would specify more weight in influencing world affairs.The Cyprus caseAnother major hindrance to Turk eys accession is said to be its non-recognition of the Grecian Republic of Cyprus. Common sense would deal as to how a country could ever become a part of an organization if the former does not recognize one of the organizations members?This was the reason for the closing of eight of the cardinal five chapters of accession negotiations in 2006 as the EU cannot fully proceed with these conditions if Turkey refuses to abide by them (Arnold, 2007).The Cyprus problem is more complex than it first appears. In fact, the both parts of the island were supposed to reunify in 2004 and enter the EU together. But when the Turkish part of Cyprus voted in favor of the UN syllabus for reunification, the Greek part voted agains it. The latter, therefore entered the EU alone, to the great displeasure of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots (Arnold, 2007).