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CIAO DATE: 05/05
The EU Consented to Negotiations, but will it Allow Turkey in?
Murat Metin Hakki
March 2005
Abstract
The Europeans fought the Turks and tried to drive them away from Europe for about 16 centuries, starting in around 452 C.E. when Attila, the Emperor of Huns, sieged Rome. They almost achieved that goal with the 1912-13 Balkan War. However, the circumstances brought the Turks to the gates of Brussels almost 90 years later, this time as a candidate for the EU membership. The most advanced stage Turkey reached in the process of accession came with the EU's decision to start negotiations on October 3, 2005. The success of the AKP Government should be acknowledged with that respect. They reached a point no Turkish cabinet had reached until now. However, it is obvious that the repercussions of the December 17, 2004 decision should not be overestimated.
Turkey still faces ambiguous perspectives with special conditions imposed on the country, and possible compromises might be demanded in the future. Why don't we first analyze the content of the December 17 decision, and then discuss the possible reasons for the policy adopted by the EU towards Turkey.
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