The relations of Turkey with the European Union Essay

The relations of Turkey with the European Union - Essay Example The union had many requirements for the membership candidacy acceptance. In December 1999 however, the EU dropped its preconditions, the reasons of which were several. Associated through its Ottoman past to the Balkans, at the edge of Central Asia, and adjoining the Middle East oil fields, Turkey was deemed a very significant participant on the international stage with huge potential to play a stabilizing role in a turbulent region; it could not be ignored. The post 9-11 era poses critical implications in the world politics today. Any plotted course of such decision making is prone to have a long lasting impact, not only on the concerned countries, but also on every affected party. In this case, the Turkey-EU relations, as well as their future nature of this relationship, not only affect them, but also EU’s relations with its neighboring Muslim countries. It took 3 decades until Turkey became a legitimate candidate country for an absolute membership in the EU. This research pr oposal tends to closely examine if Turkey should join the EU, and comprehensively discusses the potential resulting implications arising from whether or not Turkey joins it. A comprehensive review of literature has been conducted to study different theories and perspectives from different directly concerned parties, stakeholders, and various analysts who have evaluated Turkey’s standing from different angles. Further on, the proposal outlines our research objectives for this paper, discusses the research methodology to be employed, as well as highlight the ethical issues and limitations we’re prone to come across. Research Questions: The primary objective of this section is to construct a succinct discussion, and with all the pros and cons of the resulting impact, be able to reach an answer to the following research questions: Should Turkey join the EU? What advantage would Turkey gain from attaining accession to the EU? What advantage would EU gain from Turkish access ion? What are the negative implications if Turkey joins EU? Literature Review/Background According to Van Herpen (2004) Turkey has been a significant geopolitical participant on the European stage for more than six centuries. Initially it was deemed as a threat, in response to which Luther inscribed his pamphlet ‘On War against the Turk’. But with due evolution, for the past 5 decades, Turkey has been a close ally to Europe in the NATO. Even though Turkey is an Islamic country, however, the Islam followed over there is not only identified as moderate and accepting, but is also barred from the public sphere. A decade ago, Rouleau (2000, p. 100) was of the view that Turkey stands at a crossroads; the ‘accession partnership document’ that it presented to the EU is a roadmap for the extensive political and economic reforms Turkey needs to endorse if it intends on joining the EU. However, according to the so-called Copenhagen regulations, certain guidelines were to be followed by all EU membership candidates including Turkey, which basically revolved around establishing ‘Western-style democratic institutions guaranteeing rule of law, individual rights, and minority rights’. Turkey, however, even after 10 months of the issuance of these norms,