Why South Europe would disagree or agree with Turkey joining the EU - Essay Example

Why South Europe would Disagree or Agree with Turkey Joining the EU The Background of the Sub Region In order to get a better understanding of the background of the sub region, democratic consolidation of Spain, Turkey and Italy will be discussed. In all the three countries, the degree and length of democratic consolidation differs. Turkey has undergone breakdown and erosion in the form of military coups since the start of its transition period in 1946. Turkey is still in its transition to democracy (McLaren 8).

There are factors that limit Turkey from being considered as democratically consolidated; limitations on individual freedom of association and expression, press freedom limitation, military involvement in the politics, and reported cases of torture. Italian consolidation is considered relatively slow and it is not yet clear when the state became firmly democratic (McLaren 10). Spain’s consolidation is much clearer and its transition process began after the Franco’s death in 1975. Within a span of three years it had ratified a democratic constitution and held a democratic election (McLaren 11).

All the three countries have large populations and land mass and this raises the potential difficulty in the governance and consolidation unlike the smaller Southern European nations such as Greece and Portugal. Both Spain and Turkey have faced threats of regional separatism as they are forced to tighten their security against the separatist movements. Their own armed forces are potential risks towards the stability of these countries. Although this is the case, Italy and Spain have been capable of consolidating their democracies while Turkey has failed (McLaren 16).

The following factors explain the differences in these three countries; the level of stateness problems during the early transition periods and how the regimes handled those problems, economic crisis and economic development during the time of transition, methods used to design the new rules for the regime, military professionalism, and the external factors influence on the consolidation of democracy (McLaren 16). My PositionI will disagree with Turkey joining the European Union because of a number of factors.

Looking at the background of Turkey and other members of the sub region, it is very clear that Turkey has failed in its democracy and the others have thrived well despite all of them starting at the same point. The per capita GDP of Turkey indicates that the country is faced with poverty and this may raise fears among the members of the European Union in terms of the increased immigration and workers from Turkey taking over their jobs (Emerson and Heisbourg 21). Judging from its historical background, Turkey will become an obstacle in the development and progress of the European Union.

Its membership to the European Union will alter the financial, power sharing and the political balance of the European Union. Thus, weaken some of the strongest and successful European Union policies. Its links with the United States will further weaken or jeopardise the planning and implementation of the common European security and foreign policy (Grigoriadis 2). This means that Turkey has no European identity and its inclusion in the European Union membership will further aggravate the current problems the European Union is facing.

Works CitedEmerson, Michael & Heisbourg Francois. Readings in European Security, Volume 4. Brussels, Belgium: CEPS, 2007. Print. Grigoriadis, Ioannis. Turkey’s EU membership debate and the Copenhagen summit. University of oxford, 2003. Web. 3 March 2011. McLaren, Lauren M. Constructing Democracy in Southern Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Italy, Spain, and Turkey. New York, NY: Routledge, 2008. Print.