Turkeys way into the EU

TURKEY 'S WAY TO THE EU

The problem of Turkish membership in the European Union dates back several decades ago . And in the light of recent events of the biggest enlargement of the EU in its history a vital question rises whether to accept Turkey to the Union or not . Depending on the choice of decision EU will make in the recent future the future of EU itself will depend on it - especially the future of its borders , correlation of domestic forces and , possibly , the development of the whole Europe , Mediterranean and

even vaster geographical territories

Turkey . A beautiful and mysterious country that is located neither in Europe nor in Asia , but rather somewhere in between . Its history is so rich in different events that it can only be compared to that of Roman empire and to a few others , its customs and traditions are dated centuries , and one may always find something interesting and exciting in that place

A bit more than several decades that Turkey has chosen the path of democratization and European integration for itself as it saw real possibility for success and prosperity in reformation of domestic and civil infrastructure as well as in close cooperation with European democracies . It is also called sometimes a veteran applicant ' when it is referred to its striving to join the European family ' as many of Turkish attempts to join the EU have failed either in inconsistency with entering criteria or in unfavorable political conditions

In this paper we will briefly examine Turkey 's path to the European Union starting from the Helsinki European Council (when it got its recognition ) and then we will try to analyze different aspects of Turkish failures as well as figure out what are the main Turkey 's obstacles on its long race to the EU

Turkish `westernization ' of economy , politics and social life began in the late 19th century and not long after the end of the First World War it chose the Western European model of state arrangement after proclaiming the Republic in 1923

So that , after entering into a close cooperation with Western Europe in political sphere , it was natural enough for Turkey to do the same in an economic area , but Turkey rather decided to start intensive negotiations on economic cooperation with the European Economic Community only in 1959

Turkey presented its first application for joining the Community in July 1959 , not long after the EEC was created in 1958 . The Community responded by its suggestion to Turkey to establish an association till the time Turkey 's circumstances would have permit its accession . The ensuing negotiations resulted in the signature of the Agreement Creating an Association between the Republic of Turkey and the European Economic Community (the "Ankara Agreement ) on 12 September 1963 . This agreement which entered into force on 1 December 1964 , aimed at securing Turkey 's full membership in the EEC through the establishment in three phases of a customs union which would serve as an instrument to bring...