Why did Turkey join the EU? Isn't Turkey Asian?

There are many reasons for this. First of all, most of Turkey's territory in history is in Asia, and the Asian part of Russia is the result of modern expansion. Secondly, Turkey is an Islamic country (its secularization only appeared in recent decades), which is different from other European countries, while Russia is not. Finally, everyone has long formed the idea that Turkey belongs to Asia and Russia belongs to Europe, which does not make much sense. Although Turkey desperately wants to enter Europe and put forward many reasons, people's thinking inertia is not easy to overcome.

Dreaming of the West: A Long Road of No Return

Turkey spans Europe and Asia, most of which is located in Asia Minor Peninsula, and only about 3% of its territory is in Europe. Its population is about 68 million, and 98% of them are Muslims. As early as 1959, Turkey applied to join the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. The main reason is that the westernization principle is one of the important cornerstones of Turkey's foreign policy. This policy can be traced back to the 1930s. When the Turkish Republic was established on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, Kemal, its founder, put forward the westernization policy of pursuing civilization for the West. The founding father of Turkey pointed out that "the decline of the Ottoman Empire began with reveling in the victory over the West, and cut off contact with all ethnic groups in Europe. This is a mistake and we won't make it again. "

Successive Turkish governments have sought cooperation and integration with European organizations in accordance with this westernization policy. In addition, an important reason that directly prompted Turkey to apply at that time was that its rival Greece in the region applied to join the European Union on July 15 of the same year. Seeing that Greece may gain various political and economic benefits from this, Turkey rushed to follow up even before the legal procedures were clarified. After several twists and turns, Turkey signed the Ankara Agreement with the EU in September 1963 and became an associated country of the EU. This shows that Turkey has applied to formally join the European Community.

However, since then, the ups and downs at home and abroad have made Turkey's accession to the EU bumpy. Especially from the 1960s to the early 1980s, the domestic political situation in Turkey was turbulent and military coups took place many times. 1974, Turkey sent troops to Cyprus, 198 1 year, its old rival Greece formally joined the European Union, which brought obstacles to Turkey's accession. Since the mid-1980s, Turkey has stepped up its efforts, but European countries have reacted negatively. Especially after the disintegration of the Eastern European bloc of the Soviet Union, the weight of Turkey in the eyes of the European Community weakened, and the issue of joining the EU remained unresolved. 1In June, 1993, the Copenhagen Summit of the European Union decided to expand the European Union, and at the same time formulated the political, economic and legal standards for accepting the applicant countries. Faced with the impact of the accession of many Central and Eastern European countries, the Turkish government turned to the strategy of striving for the first customs union, and realized the customs union with the European Union on 1996. Turkey believes that this can start the process of formally joining the EU. However, the 1997 EU Luxembourg Summit proposed that strengthening relations should be linked with human rights, respect for ethnic minorities, settlement of the Cyprus issue and relations with Greece, which made Turkey very disappointed. Once the political dialogue with the EU was interrupted, many people in Turkey even shouted angrily the slogan of "returning to Asia". At the end of 1990s, with the change of Greece's policy towards Turkey and the atmosphere of EU countries towards Turkey, and the Clinton administration's support for Turkey's accession to the EU, the EU finally granted Turkey the candidate status at the end of 1999.

In the past five years, formal accession to the European Union has been the primary issue of Turkey's domestic and foreign policies. 12 15 The European Parliament passed a resolution supporting the EU to start this negotiation immediately. The 65438+February 17 EU Summit finally opened this persistent knocker, and the accession negotiations are conditional. Future negotiations will involve more substantive issues, and the journey to join the WTO will be more difficult, which will take at least ten years. But for Turkey, this is a road of no return, and it can only move forward, not backward.

The conditions add up: why is it so difficult?

From the 1960s to the 1990s, most of the arguments put forward by Europeans who opposed Turkey's accession to the EU related to democratic mechanism, human rights, minority rights, Cyprus issue, relations with Greece and other issues. However, with the acceleration of Turkey's accession process, the opponents' arguments have reached a deeper level, which is directly related to the direct economic interests and security interests of the EU, and even touches on Turkey's own unchangeable characteristics such as history, population, geography, religion and culture.

First of all, some opponents believe that Turkey's accession to the EU will increase the economic burden of the EU. Turkey is poorer than the 65,438+00 countries that joined the EU this year. Per capita GDP is only a quarter of the EU average, with a large agricultural population. After joining the European Union, billions of euros will flow to Turkey every year, thus reducing the share of cakes shared by other member States. In addition, according to the law that capital flows to countries with cheap labor and immigrants flow to countries with high welfare, Turkey's accession to the EU will reduce investment and increase unemployment rate, which will have a great impact on the EU's labor market and welfare system.

Second, many people think that Turkey does not belong to European countries geographically, and the EU should not expand indefinitely. Turkey's accession to the EU will bring about disputes over the right of Armenia, Georgia and other non-European countries to join the EU. Historically, Turkey is not a European country. The Ottoman Empire had conflicts with Europe in history and lacked a sense of identity with some countries. Turkey does not belong to Europe in culture and religion, and lacks European cultural values, such as human rights, democracy and freedom. Moreover, EU countries now take Christianity as their main cultural background. Turkey, which has tens of millions of Muslims, will join the EU, which will lead to contradictions and conflicts in religion, culture, ethics and customs within the EU, which is not conducive to the peace and stability of the EU.

Third, what many opponents are most worried about is the rapid population growth in Turkey, which is expected to exceed 80 million by 20 15. Once it joins the EU, according to the current voting mechanism of the EU, it will occupy a large number of seats in the European Parliament, committees, councils and other legislative and law enforcement agencies, and become the most influential country to formulate the same policies, which is particularly unwilling to see by the big EU countries.

Who needs who: emphasize win-win situation

Turkey needs the EU. Turkey knows that it can certainly develop without joining the EU, but it will develop faster and better after joining the EU. Joining the EU will bring huge economic benefits to Turkey. Joining this national alliance with the highest degree of integration and the strongest economic strength in the world will certainly promote the all-round development and progress of Turkish society, enhance its strength, help solve some problems left over from history, and further enhance its international status and value.

Turkey is also well aware of the significance of its own value to the EU, and believes that the unprecedented fierce debate about Turkey's accession to EU institutions and member States itself proves Turkey's value. When refuting European objections, he repeatedly stressed that the EU needs Turkey.

In response to the argument that Turkey will increase the burden on the EU, Turkey publicizes that in recent years, Turkey's economy has developed steadily and is full of vitality, which will guarantee the economic development of the EU in the future 10, but not be a full burden. Without more financial support, Turkey achieved tariff unification with the EU on 1996, which shows that Turkey has strong industrial strength, competitiveness and economic coordination ability. Since 2002, Turkey's economic growth rate has averaged 8% annually, which will not only not increase the burden on the EU too much, but also inject more vitality into the EU economy.

Regarding the argument that Turkey does not belong to Europe geographically, Turkey argues that the borders of the EU are not defined by geographical location, but by geopolitics. Cyprus is 400 nautical miles from Greece's nearest island, not an inch of land is in Europe, but it has become a member of the European Union. Geographically, Turkey has at least territory in Europe. Turkey's accession will promote the development of European political integration and create important conditions for the EU to play a global role.

Regarding the statement that Turkey is not a European country in history, Turkey argues that Turkey has the same history with Europe since the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire once included Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Romania, and extended to Vienna. There was a war between the Ottoman Empire and European countries, but at that time, there was also a war between European countries. For example, the main enemy of France at that time was not the Ottomans, first Britain, then Germany. After winning the war with western powers, Turkey quickly turned to the West and recognized the values represented by the West.

Regarding the theory of cultural differences, Turkey replied that the founding idea of the European Union stems from cultural diversity, and one of its goals is to pursue a multicultural structure. The factors that define European culture are * * * the same values, such as democracy, freedom, supremacy of law, human rights and market economy. The lifestyle of countries that integrate according to the same values is determined by their customs and habits. Since the founding of the Republic of China, Turkey has always recognized and implemented modern culture and lifestyle, and refusing to accept Turkey because of cultural differences contradicts the EU's goal of pursuing a multicultural structure. Turkey and the European Union can create a higher spiritual civilization through long-term mutual influence of cultural factors.

In response to the statement that Turkey's large population will fundamentally change the EU's decision-making mechanism, Turkey pointed out that from the perspective of the decision-making mechanism of the European Commission, decisions are increasingly made not by unanimous votes, but by majority votes. Therefore, it is impossible for any country, big or small, to impose its own views on the EU alone. Turkey will become the second largest country in the European Parliament, but like other countries, it will be assigned to different groups, not by country, but by political inclination. Turkish members in the European Parliament vote not on the basis of the country, but on the basis of their groups.

In view of the argument that Turkey's accession to the EU will affect European security, Turkey believes that the EU's security and defense policy is precisely the lever to promote Turkey's accession to the EU. In this regard, Turkey's greatest trump card is its strategic position. After "9. 1 1 incident", the importance of Turkey's geostrategic position increased instead of decreased. It is located between the three most unstable regions in the world, the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans, and is close to the world's energy producing areas. It is an important energy channel. Turkey's accession to the EU will make the EU border with the Middle East, especially Iran, Iraq and Syria, which are in turmoil. Any major event in the globalized world, no matter how far away from Europe, will have an impact on Europe. Turkey's accession to the EU will set an example for the Islamic world and bring the EU closer to the Middle East in religion, culture and geography. With the help of Turkey's political and economic influence in the Middle East, the EU can play a more effective role in Middle East affairs, and the risks brought by the Middle East to the EU will also be reduced. At the same time, it will also promote the harmony and stability of European society with 20 million Muslims, reduce the friction between Turkey and neighboring countries, more effectively stop the development of extremist forces in Turkey and organized crimes such as drug smuggling, and make concrete and substantial contributions to the EU.