Tuesday, January 11, 2005

The Journal of Turkish Weekly:Turkey's EU Membership and the US

"Turkey's EU Membership and the US
View: Dr. Sedat La�iner

The US has been one of the most supportive countries of Turkey�s EU membership. Especially during the 1990s, US presidents have argued that Turkey deserves a place in the EU while presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush actively lobbied for Turkey in EU circles. Even though these moves were met with reaction by some EU members, it is evident that the US�s main concern is to keep Turkey in the Western bloc and to maintain the Moslem-Democrat model in cooperation with the West. Furthermore, another reason is Turkey�s support for the US�s policies in the Middle East, Caucasus, and the Balkans. In this respect, it can be argued that Turkey�s membership would affect US_EU relations positively. The triumvirate currently that work within the NATO framework can be expected to strengthen even further with Turkey�s EU membership."

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