Where is Turkey’s key to the EU door?
M N Hebbar (View from Europe)
1 November 2011
Time was when the mention of the word Turkey in the populous democracies of Europe conjured up exotic visions of foreign nationals living in their midst as perfectly legitimate law-abiding citizens.
Their significant numbers in post-war Germany, for instance, reflected the pressing needs of a manpower-starved nation struggling to rebuild its shattered economy from its bootstraps. Turkey was a valued member in the comity of nations. But Turkey’s 40-year bid for membership of the European Union (EU) has surprisingly been a long saga of theatrics, charade, disdain and continuing jilting of a nation that has transformed itself well beyond its initial image of a pliant supplicant state.
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