"Turkey's Quest to Join European Union Reaches Crossroads
By Jeffrey Fleishman, Times Staff Writer
BERLIN -- Can a Turk be a European?
That centuries-old riddle will be asked again Thursday, when Turkey is expected to take a big step in its troubled quest to join the European Union. If all goes according to plan, EU leaders will set a date for Turkey to begin membership talks, a prospect certain to intensify doubts that a Muslim nation can be embraced by a Europe anxious about the rise of Islam across the continent.
The historic negotiations could last 15 years. There is no guarantee of membership. A din of caveats and protests has already erupted over economic and human rights concerns. But, in the end, the question is identity: Are Turkey's history, religion and borders compatible with the geographic and cultural landscape of Europe? And, perhaps more important, does a predominantly Christian Europe want them to be?"
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