Turkey and Europe
An uncertain path
Faltering membership talks are reducing the European Union’s influence
Oct 15th 2011 | ISTANBUL | from the print edition
WITH Turkey vaunting itself as a model for the Arab world, the tendency is to see its 50-year-old goal of joining the European Union as dead. When you have a booming economy, secular democracy and new regional clout, goes a common refrain, “who needs Europe?” The membership talks that began in 2005 have all but stopped, because of rows over Cyprus and the resistance to Turkish membership by some EU countries. No new chapters have been opened for a year; none will be unless Turkey opens its ports to Greek-Cypriot vessels, which is unlikely.
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