"Time to Talk Turkey
The EU needs to set aside pettiness and consider Turkey’s full membership
By Tom Goeller
TURKEY HAS BEEN knocking at Europe’s door since before 1960, but only in December 1999 was this Muslim country between East and West officially recognized as a candidate for membership in the European Union (EU), the world’s largest trading bloc. In December 2002, the European Council announced that if Turkey met its political “Copenhagen criteria” by the end of 2004, it would open negotiations without delay.
The European Commission presented a vital progress report on these political criteria, together with a recommendation on opening negotiations, at the end of September. The decision irked the French government in a way that can only be interpreted as blatant xenophobia."
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