"Turkey's long journey to Europe
By Kemal Karpat
Historian
Turkey has agreed with the European Union to begin EU accession talks next October - albeit with a compromise over the thorny issue of Cyprus. For Turkey this is the latest success in a 40-year struggle to join Europe's top table.
A pro-EU ad in Ankara and photo of Ataturk, 'father of the Turks'
So how did the Republic of Turkey, with its origins in Central Asia two millennia ago and a 700-year Ottoman legacy, come to embrace the European dream?
Of course, four centuries ago the balance of power was in favour of the Ottomans who preyed on the land of neighbouring, weak European states. "
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