Dr. Brantz History 3134
November 13, 2007
Should Turkey Be Admitted into the European Union? Since the creation of the European Union, there have been many debates on which country is a proper candidate for entry into the Union. Beginning in the early 1980s, the European Union has undergone a number of changes to the construct of the Union. The number of applicants to join into the union has increased dramatically. The status of Turkey’s admission to the European Union has become a matter of major significance and considerable controversy in recent years. Turkey applied for associate membership of the EU in 1959. The application resulted in an Association Agreement in 1963 whereby Turkey and the EU would conditionally and gradually create a customs union by 1995 at the latest. The customs union was considered as a step towards full membership at an unspecified future date. The EU granted Turkey financial assistance and protective tariffs in the first stage, but the second stage of gradual, mutual reductions in tariffs and non-tariff barriers was delayed due to economic and political conditions in Turkey in the 1970´s and the early 1980´s . However, in the 1990’s Turkey made progress by helping the allies in the Middle-East. Turkey was officially recognized as a full time candidate in 1999 at the Helsinki summit and will be a decade until an answer about Turkey’s admission is finalized. As of 2002 a more positive outlook for Turkey is clear .
There are many reasons why Turkey would want to join the EU. The economies of both Turkey and the European nation’s part of the Union would have a boost in their economies, and it would help to industrialize Turkey; who is underdeveloped compared to other western countries. Another positive for both sides is that it opens the doors to a huge populated country open for development. If Turkey joined the union is that it would open the doors between the western world and the Islamic world. This would serve