Turkish accession to the european union: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

This article focuses on what Turkish membership and the debates over Turkish membership mean for Europe. The main issue is thus not whether Turkey will get in or whether Turkey possesses sufficient European credentials, but rather how inclusion of Turkey will transform Europe and what the debates over Turkey reveal about Europe's conception of its core values and identity. As will be seen, the discussion over Turkey reveals great fissures in the EU, and the final decision whether to include Turkey (and, if so, under what conditions) will constitute a definitive statement about what Europe wants itself to be.