Turkey's membership of EU - Essay Example

This of course leaves the very prominent case of the nation of Turkey. Although not technically a part of “Europe” proper, Turkey has been highly desirous of EU membership for quite some time now and has been a valuable trading partner as well as maintaining a definitively close political and economic connection with both France and Germany; arguably the two most prominent members of the European Union. Within this context and considering this particular reality, this analysis will seek to discuss some of the major issues that currently serve as an impediment to this taking place as well as analyzing some of the key factors that serve to encourage the inclusion of Turkey as a future member of the European Union.

Firstly, from the geographic standpoint, those that argue against Turkish inclusion in the European Union would be quick to point out that 97% of the entire nation of Turkey is not within the continent of Europe (Simpson, 2013). However, as history has noted time and again, Turkey serves as a valuable bridge between Europe and Asia/Mid-East and the inclusion of such a partner would definitively strengthen the ties that these regions could express in terms of trade and economic resilience. Secondly, from the perspective of economics, those that are against Turkish inclusion in the European Union might point to the fact that the GDP of the average Turkish citizen is nearly ?

of what the GDP of the average EU citizen enjoys (Jameson, 2013). However, the fact of the matter is that Turkey’s economy has experienced stellar and rapid growth over the past few decades and stands in a very good position to overtake some of the EU’s weaker members in terms of GDP output per citizen within the next several years. Thirdly, from the political standpoint, naysayers would argue that the politics of Turkey are not advanced enough as compared to the mature European style democracies that are invariably evidenced within the other member states of the EU (Hancock, 2012).

Although it is true that the nation of Turkey does not have a long history of democratic process as compared to the nations of Europe, it has managed to strike a pluralistic balance between elements of Islamic forces, the military, and a league of social democrats; exhibiting the very epitome of what a democracy should promote – understandings and cooperation between disparate groups of people. Ultimately, if given the chance to decide whether or not Turkey should be admitted into the European Union, it would be the decision of this author that this should indeed take place.

The rational for this is nuanced. Firstly, it is clear that Europe has lost a great deal of skilled and unskilled manufacturing jobs over the past several decades to the developing nations in Asia and elsewhere. As a result of this, inclusion of a nation that is currently rapidly industrializing will bolster the overall economic strength that Europe can bring to bear on the international level. Secondly, whereas the population of “old Europe” has continued to decline, and is on course for even further decline in the future, Turkey’s influx of 140 million people could help remedy the coming collapse of European productivity with regards to gaps in the labor market that are certain to take place.

Finally, with regards to the political ramifications of