Greece Background Part III: Turkey

A final issue that was key during my time in Greece was Turkish EU accession. I have a feeling if I'd been in Greece a year ago-- or even six months ago-- this would have been an even hotter topic, but I think Turkey has lost some interest in the meantime.

Basically, Turkey wants to join the EU and its economy is in proper, EU friendly shape. (Between 2002-2006, the average growth rate was 7%, about four times the average EU growth rate.) Despite a long-standing dispute over Cyprus, Greece has been a key sponsor for Turkish EU accession. Turkey and Greece have a rocky history, but according to my Turkish journalist friend, things have been hunky dory since the 1999 earthquake, when Greece led the outpouring of support for its' Eastern neighbor.

There have been a couple explanations why Turkish EU membership has been so slow. I have my own biases-- I visited Turkey in January and just really liked it (of course, I wasn't a political dissent or a Kurd...), and am also cynical about the inelasticity of the European identity.

1) Cyprus negotiations. Turkey must open its ports to all (Greek) Cypriot planes and vessels before succession can take place.
2) "Turkey doesn't have the proper paperwork and records because it isn't a proper democracy." I heard this one a lot but I'm not sure what it means.
3) Turkish compliance with various EU protocol (for instance, food safety policy and intellectual property law) will take more time.
4) Human rights abuses and lack of freedom of press.
5) Turkey is a majority Muslim (99%) country and just "isn't European."

I think reasons (2) and (3) are excuses that make the delay look reasonable on paper. It's hard for me to believe that Turkey would have a harder time complying-- or worse record-keeping-- than some of the former Soviet bloc countries that joined the EU that have spent the past decade and a half rebuilding their infrastructure from scratch. I don't know enough about Cyprus to comment on reason (1) although it seems like a plausible roadblock. I think (4) and (5) are the most interesting reasons.

Public opinion in Europe, as gauged by the Eurobarometer, is against Turkish succession. Turkey has a population of 70 million and its population growth rate is much faster than that of most EU members. Allowing Turkey into the EU wouldn't be bringing in just a small Muslim country but could change the composition of the whole EU. I think the popular resistance to Turkish accession is based on fears about a shifting European identity. While this is depressing, I bet that in 1988, the year Turkey first applied for EU membership, it was hard to imagine Bulgaria and Lithuania as members, so it seems clear the European identity is in flux.

The human rights issue is a difficult one. Turkey is a democracy that holds free and fair elections, but the army last intervened because they didn't like the election result in 1997. Political dissents who go against the nationalist line are sometimes put on trial for their views. The Freedom House Index (which is addictive) gives Turkey about the same ranking as Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Moldova.
http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&country=7291&year=2007
I wish the EU would be more strategic about using membership as a lever if this was the primary issue, though.