"Turkey at the crossroads
Anthony Manduca
I was fortunate to attend a seminar in Brussels and Ankara last week on the European Union and Turkey organised by the European Journalism Centre. It was a useful seminar, one that highlighted the complexities of Turkey's bid to join the EU and one that brought out the rather sharp contrasts in Turkish society and politics.
On the whole, I have always cautiously favoured Turkey joining the EU because I feel this will be mutually beneficial to both. Many disagree with me because they think Turkey is not a European country and that since Turkey is a Muslin nation this will prevent it from fully integrating into the EU. And then of course there is the issue of the economic cost of Turkey's membership."
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