Page 1 of 15

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 04 Issue 03

March 2018

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 254

Turkey and Membership of the

European Union

THOM-MANUEL, NIMI1, EME EKEKWE2

DEPT. OF POLITICAL & ADMIN. STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT

PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA1

DEPT. OF POLITICAL & ADMIN. STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT

PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA2

Abstract

This study sought to investigate Turkey and her quest to become a member of

the EU. Relations between Turkey and European integration institutions

began withTurkey’s application for associate membership in the European

Economic Community(EEC) in 1959. Turkey applied for full membership in the

EEC in 1987 but did not gaincandidate status until 1999. Since that time,

discussions about the implications of Turkey’s prospective EUmembership

have become more serious and extensive in both Turkey and the EU. This

paper seeks toanalyse the potential advantages and drawbacks of Turkey’s

EU membership forboth Turkey and the EU. It considers economic, social,

political, and security factors of such union. The paper argues that, taking into

account all the possible effects, thepossible advantages of this membership

outweigh the potential drawbacks for bothTurkey and the EU. Thus, it

therefore recommends that greater efforts to conclude the negotiation process

with full EUmembership for Turkey should therefore be considered and

treated as highly desirable.

Keywords: Turkey, Membership, EU, Accession

Introduction

Studies such as that conducted by

Teitelbaum, and Martin, (2003)

reveal that Turkey has a

population of 75+ million. The

implication of the above population

size therefore is that if the country

entered the EU today, they would

be the second largest Member

State behind Germany. This would

mean an instant shift of power in

almost every EU institution, more

notably the European Parliament

where seats are distributed to

member States according to

population. Turkey would instantly

become a key player in European

politics and would have more

influence than the traditionally

core countries, France, Italy, and

the UK. Even if we don't consider

anything else, it's understandable

that Europeans would be wary of a

membership that would

significantly alter the EU's political

and demographic map, and

Turkey's massive population is

often quoted as the key political

reason the country's accession

Page 2 of 15

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 04 Issue 03

March 2018

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 255

process is under such heavy

scrutiny Taylor, (2002).Furthermore

Turkey is not generally considered a

part of Europe. It's the spiritual

successor to the Ottoman Empire, an

empire that was traditionally

adversarial towards Europe, and its

population is predominantly Muslim,

while Europe's population is

overwhelmingly Christian. A very

small part of the country's territory,

East Thrace, is in Europe and it's

application may seem unlikely to be

denied on geographic grounds, like

Morocco's was, but still the question

of whether Turkey should be

considered a European country or not

has been raised multiple times. A

recent example is the following

statement by Nicolas Sarkozy (2007):

I want to say that Europe must give

itself borders, that not all countries

have a vocation to become

members of Europe, beginning with

Turkey which has no place inside

the European Union. Enlarging

Europe with no limit risks

destroying European political

union, and that I do not accept.

Given Turkey's predominantly

Muslim population and its

geographic location, the EU does

not want to risk an influx of

Muslim immigrants, simply put

Turkey's accession would open a

backdoor to Europe for immigrants

from Arabic and African countries,

at a time when immigration is an

extremely hot issue in European

countries and several countries

have recently implemented anti- immigration laws that would seem

extreme and unjustified a decade

ago. A recent example is the

decision to open detention camps

for immigrants in Greece, an

extremely controversial decision

that in local media has been

compared to Nazi Germany's

detention camps. While this might

seem like a local issue, we can't

ignore the fact that most illegal

immigrants reach Greece (and thus

the EU) through TurkeyStrafor

(2007).While Europe has been

traditionally welcoming to

immigrants, in recent years there's

a strong anti-immigration

sentiment across all major member

states, a contributing factor to the

steady rise of nationalism in

Europe. Germany's position in

2010 was less critical but also not

particularly enthusiastic in regards

to full membership of Turkey. As

noted by John (2011);

The German chancellor, Angela

Merkel, will insist on "privileged

partnership" for Turkey instead of

full EU membership when she

visits the country next week,

according to remarks published

yesterday. "There are intertwined

relations between Turkey and the

EU. There are 35 chapters in the

[membership] talks. I am confident

that 27-28 of them can be taken up

and this will really mean a

privileged partnership," she said

was quoted as saying by the

Milliyet newspaper. "Some issues,

like institutional integration, will be

left out of the scope," she told a

group of Turkish reporters, before a

visit to Turkey on Monday and

Tuesday. Mrs Merkel stressed,

however, that the European Union

placed "great importance" on the

need for Turkey to follow a foreign

policy consistent with the bloc's

stance. Germany's position that the

sizeable, mainly Muslim, country is

Page 3 of 15

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 04 Issue 03

March 2018

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 256

not fit for accession is backed by

another EU heavyweight, France,

but Ankara categorically rejects

any alternatives that fall short of

full membership.

Turkey has been growing rapidly.

It is now Europe’s sixth largest

economy and the 18th largest

globally. According to recent

survey, the country will become

the world’s 12th largest economy

by 2030, surpassing Italy and

South Korea.

Turkey has a population of 75+

million and if the country entered

the EU today, they would be the

second largest member state

behind Germany. This would

mean an instant shift of power in

almost every EU institution, more

notably the European Parliament

where seats are distributed to

member states according to

population. Turkey would

instantly become a key player in

European politics and would have

more influence than the

traditionally core countries,

France, Italy, and the UK. Even if

we don't consider anything else,

it's understandable that

Europeans would be wary of a

membership that would

significantly alter the EU's

political and demographic map,

and Turkey's massive population

is often quoted as the key political

reason the country's accession

process is under such heavy

scrutinyBankley, (2009).

Furthermore, Turkey is not

generally considered a part of

Europe. It's the spiritual

successor to the Ottoman Empire,

an empire that was traditionally

adversarial towards Europe, and

its population is predominantly

Muslim, while Europe's population

is overwhelmingly Christian. A

very small part of the country's

territory, East Thrace, is in

Europe and it's application may

seem unlikely to be denied on

geographic grounds, like

Morocco's was, but still the

question of whether Turkey

should be considered a European

country or not has been raised

multiple times. A recent example

is the following statement by

Sarkozy (2007):

I want to say that Europe must

give itself borders, that not all

countries have a vocation to

become members of Europe,

beginning with Turkey which has

no place inside the European

Union.Enlarging Europe with no

limit risks destroying European

political union, and that I do not

accept.

The statement is from 2007, two

years after the violent Paris riots,

a time when feelings for Muslim

immigrants in France and in

Europe in general were generally

unfavourable. While Europe has

been traditionally welcoming to

immigrants, in recent years

there's a strong anti-immigration

sentiment across all major

member states, a contributing

factor to the steady rise of

nationalism in Europe. Germany's

position in 2010 was less critical

but also not particularly

enthusiastic in regards to full