Suchergebnisse

During the last semester, the Portuguese Presidency & relations between the European Union & Turkey were hostage to Sarkozy's election as the President of France & his guerrilla warfare against Turkey's accession. Adapted from the source document.

On the occasion of Portugal assuming the rotating presidency of the EU, the article analyzes the European posture toward Turkey. An important question to address is the extent to which Turkey can be considered a European state, particularly within the context of Turkey's desire for a closer association with Europe. The article gives the history of Turkey's long-held desire to join the EU, for which it was campaigning in earnest by 1995. While the economic advantages to Turkey of EU membership are clear, the economic & other advantages for Europe are less so, & not all EU members share the same level of enthusiasm for Turkish admittance. The article concludes by arguing strongly that the EU has a lot of work to do in understanding Turkey better, & that Portugal's assumption of the EU presidency can provide an opportunity in this direction. R. Young