Turkey’s EU Membership And Perceptions – OpEd
By JTW -- (February 15, 2013)
By Yusuf Ibrahim Gamawa
Turkey is generally seen to be a Muslim country mainly as a result of its history. The history of a nation and its destiny always move hand in hand, though dynamic changes could always occur. That the Ottoman Empire had its roots in Turkish soil, makes it difficult for modern Turkey to separate itself from Ottoman culture, religion and society in the eyes of the world. The Turks can never separate themselves from the Islamic empire that the Ottoman was, nor deny that an Islamic empire once flourished on Turkish soil. It is a past that is still alive, and which kept hunting the advances that the modern republic of Turkey has constantly been making to become a member of the European Union amongst many other reasons. To many people, it was incomprehensible that Turkey could aspire to become a member of the EU, owing mainly to its Ottoman past. Though sometimes this point is not clearly made but one can understand the rationale behind such thoughts.
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