European Union and Turkey - Literature review Example

European Union and Turkey Introduction Turkey is among the candidature countries that has had great disputes in the Euro zone. However, it should not be disposed from within the European zone but should not yet be considered to join the European Union. This is because in recent years, the economic ties between Turkey and Europe have strengthened since 50 percent of Turkeys export goes to Europe. Turkey is also important as being part of Europe’s business partner because it plays a big role in Europe’s energy sector. Due to this, Europe will suffer great losses if it removes Turkey as being part of the zone. Turkey acts as a hub in Europe’s energy supply because the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to be constructed would have to pass through Europe for it to get various parts of Europe. Due to the Instability in North America, Middle East and the Syria war, Turkey is important to the economy of Europe (AIV, 2010). Turkey’s economy is becoming strong and growing fast and it offers a large market for the goods and services offered by Europe. Additionally, its large population also provides a considerable market to Europe’s products. Turkey has also improved the economic status of Europe because a majority of Turkish businesses in Europe are doing great and attract a lot of foreign investors. Europe cannot afford to lose the large number of foreign investors who are involved in Turkish businesses. If Europe cuts ties with Turkey, it will suffer great loses and recession and it will take them years before they get back on their feet (Graham, Anne Faber and Anne, 2009). Turkey should not be removed from the European community because it has put much effort in coming into terms with the European Union’s requirements. The requirements were for them to reform their legislation and for them to extend their agreements with the European Union and other member states. The Turkish government was able to remove the death penalty that existed in its constitution making it a trustworthy business partner. Due to this, turkey should not be removed from being part of the European community. Many businesses will be affected if Turkey is disqualified from being part of the European community. Despite its importance in the European community, turkey should not yet be allowed to join the European Union. This is because of the weaknesses that it has and the negative effects it may bring on the European Union. Turkey has shown a slow progress in meeting the criteria of joining the European Union making it difficult for the Union to accept its membership. Due to this, the European Union lacks trust and credibility on the performance and effectiveness of the nation (Yilma, 2014). Turkey has a large population size and the EU fears that it will consume a lot of its funds in making reforms and might not make good returns if it is integrated in the Union. The slow growth rate of turkey’s economy creates fear for the European Union who that there would be an influx among the laborers in Turkey. Due to this, the European Union will face difficulties in meeting the needs of all the laborers in Turkey since its unemployment rate is high. Because of this negative effect, Turkey should be barred from being a member of the European Union at the moment. Additionally, Turkey should not be part of the European Union because its Muslim culture may alter the policies, character, identity and the policies of the Union. Their absorption in the European Union may as well affect the relationship between the EU and some of its member states such as Cyprus. This is because Turkey does not want to corporate in working together with some countries in the European Union. Due to this, rivalry may emerge leading to the poor performance of the EU. The Muslim culture of Turkey may also affect its relations with other member states giving the European Union difficulty in trying to merge the member states together. Most of the activities carried out within the Muslim culture are not accepted by the European culture and this poses a challenge for the EU to integrate Turkey to its membership (Krugman, 2014). The political instability in Turkey is not a good environment for the EU to make it its member. Because of its political instability, the European Union might face great challenges if it partners with Turkey. The EU economic value may decrease because of the poor performance of Turkey that may be experienced due to political instability. Turkey also does allow freedom for expression of one’s opinions and only the people in power make decisions. The European Union may find difficulty in dealing with such perceptions. This is a proper basis of why the EU should not accept Turkey’s request for membership. The European Union believes in freedom of expression for all its member states and since Turkey lacks that quality, it should not be part of the Union because it will deter the EU from making its decisions in a proper and effective manner (Graham et al, 2009). Additionally, turkey does not have an independent Judiciary which shows its disqualification of joining the European Union. It also does not allow freedom of speech making it incompatible with the EU. The European Union allows freedom of speech while Turkey does not. These major differences may be a barrier to effective communication between the EU and Turkey. The economic standards of Turkey have not yet met the economic standards of the European Union. Due to this, the EU should not allow Turkey to be part of its member states yet because of their differences in economic issues. Turkey being a Muslim country may make it difficult to merge with Europe which is a Christian country. This may bring problems to the EU when dealing with the Turkish. The security of European countries will also be at stake because of the massive killings in Turkey for people who are not Muslims. Turkey has different civil rights with the EU. The European Union values the rights of human beings which is part of its objectives. Turkey has violations of civil rights which increases every day. Due to this, the EU will find it difficult to work effectively with Turkey because they will not easily come to terms during negotiations. The European Union should consider this danger before making any negotiations with Turkey. Turkey should first correct the violations of rights that are dominant in the country before it can be considered to be partner with the European Union (Absorbe, 2014). If the European Union accepts Turkey as part of its member, it will experience a large influx of people to Europe looking for jobs. Since the Turkish are Muslims, their large numbers in Europe may lead to the forceful conversion of people to being Islam. They may also try and change the western culture which they despise leading to conflicts between them and the people of Europe. With this, the EU would have failed in fulfilling its objective of ensuring peace, understanding among members of its states. The European Union consists of Christian countries while Turkey is an Islam country making it hard for them to relate. To avoid conflicts and discrimination, Turkey should not join the EU. The EU is against Holocaust and because of this; Turkey should not at any point be allow to be a member of the EU. This is because the Turkish government denied recognizing being involved in the Armenian Genocide that killed many in 1915 (Arne, 2014). The economy of Turkey is generally poor despites its recent economic growth. Due to this, Turkey may not march with the economic standards and levels that other European Union countries are in. if the EU integrates it in its membership, its economic growth rate would slow down reducing its profits. Additionally, the money that would be spent on Turkey if they are absorbed in the EU would me be much. This is because of the large population that it has and the unstable economy that they have. The EU may encounter great loses especially because they will not easily recover the money invested in it. Because of its large population, Turkey may exercise too much power in the European and also because of its dictatorship form of leadership. The Turkish government has not embraced Democracy which poses a challenge of dealing with the EU which believes in democracy in leadership. Due to this fact, Turkey should not be part of the EU. Contrary to the European Union, Turkey does not believe in the empowerment of women. To them, women should not hold any leadership roles. Because of this, Turkey has not met the qualification of joining the EU because they do not lie on the same page. Because of its undermining of women, it should not be part of the EU (Josphat, 2003). Turkey also should not yet join the EU because it is not ready to be incorporated in its membership. This is because it is not rich enough to be part of the EU which is mostly made up of wealthy and well stabilized countries. Turkey has a GNI of $8,000 per capital making it unable to sustain itself in the EU. If the EU accepts its request of member, it will drain the tax payer’s money of other European countries so as to sustain its large population and low economy. The EU should avoid this problem that may lead to its downfall by not accepting Turkey. If the EU accepts to partner with Turkey, its finances will be strained as they will be struggling to support the poor country which can barely support itself. Its inadequate distribution of resource may also pose a challenge to EU when doing business with them. The other members of the EU will also be strained if Turkey is made part of the EU (Rebecca, 2013). Additionally, Turkey does not allow freedom of worship and everybody in the country is forced to abide to the Islam religion. Some people are even tortured and killed if they do not convert to Islam. The EU should not accept this country as one of its members because it does not give its citizens freedom of worship and speech. By accepting Turkey, the EU would be going against its policies of allowing freedom of speech and worship as one of its objectives. Additionally, the Turkish people undermine the Kurdish minority group which covers 20 percent of its total population. The EU fights against the discrimination of minority groups should not partner with Turkey because of it still holds on to discrimination. Turkish membership in the EU will pose a great insecurity threat to the Union. This is because the EU may be attacked by other Arab countries which are not in good terms with turkey. Public opinions on whether Turkey should join the EU Public opinions show that the number of people who want Turkey to join the EU has decreased in recent years. In 2007, the opinion rates were 80 percent and had declined to 30 percent in 2011. This shows that a number of Europeans are not for the idea of including Turkey in the European Union (Vincent, 2012). Conclusion The European Union should not make Turkey a part of its member because of the many differences they have and the challenges they are facing now. However, Turkey should not be removed from the Euro zone because of the importance that it plays in its economy. Turkey is a major exporter to Europe and also has a large market share in Turkey because of its large population. Because of its major differences with European countries, the EU should not consider including Turkey in its membership. This is because the negativities that it will bring along with it are much more than the constructive impacts it will have on the Union. The Union should critically evaluate the pros and cons of Turkey and also consider the criticisms made by countries within the Union. It should also consider the impacts Turkey will have on the economy of Europe and its member countries. The European Union should also look at the negative activities that Turkey is involved in and which may directly affect the union. Works cited Absorbe Williams. Should Turkey be given membership in the EU? Retrieved May 14, 2014 from http://www.debatingeurope.eu/should-turkey-join-the-european-union.htm AIV. The EUs Capacity For Further Enlargement. European Union Journal. Vol 3(7):13-17. 2010 Arne Delfs. Turkey Unfit to join EU. Retrieved May 14, 2014 from http://www.bloolerg.com/news/2014/turkey-unfit-to-join-eu.html EU. Future enlargement of the EU. Retrieved May 14, 2014 from http://www.euromove.org.uk/index.php 2013 Graham, Avery., Anne Faber and Anne Schmidt. Enlarging the European Union: Effects on the new member states and the EU. Belgium: Trans European Policy Studies Association. 2009 Josphat Gillingham. European Integration. London: Cambridge University Press. 2003 Krugman Viner. Arguments for and against Turkey to join the EU. Retrieved May 14, 2014 from http://www.debate.org/arguments-for-and-against-turkey.htm Rebecca Zhan. European Union and its relationship with Turkey. Brussels: ETUI aisbl Publishers. 2013 Teklehaymanot Yilma. Turkey EU: why it will never happen. Retrieve May 14, 2014 from http://www.policymic.com/articles/turkey-eu-why-it-will-never-happen Vincent Morelli. European Union Enlargement: A status report on Turkey’s Accession Negotiations. 2012 Read More