Development and Further Enlargement of European Union

Since 1950 European Union (EU) was created it has promoted peace, prosperity and values among the member nations and its neighbouring countries. EU’s influential tools, has helped transform many European states into functioning democracies and prosperous countries. EU’s membership has grown from 6 to 28 countries (Enlargement, 2014), satisfying a historic vow to integrate the continent bringing in most states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by peaceful ideals.EU has anticipated the enlargement as an extraordinary opportunity to endorse political strength and economic success in Europe. EU’s extension policy is open to any European state that fulfils the EU’s political and financial criteria for membership; still the political process of inclusion of new state requires a unanimous agreement from all the existing 28 member states. Europe is considered to be more flourishing and safer place due to the promotion of democracy, anti-corruption policy and the single market policy.

In its relative dark history Turkey, has come a long way. Overcoming its continuing struggle with its Muslim dominance, to becoming a powerful democratic Muslim state. Seeking full membership into the European Union (EU) to be a first Muslim EU state, and a member of NATO. With the country being part of not only Europe, it also shares geopolitical aspects with Asia and the Middle East, Mediterranean and Balkans. While trying to bring modern values to an elected Islamist government.

With our continuing interest in the Middle East and Russia’s recent action in Crimea, Turkey has become one of the most important allies to the western world. However, their recent actions suggest that turkey is moving away from the west. Now that Turkey is starting to thrive independently, the west is no longer as appealing. Under the leadership of its current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it is clear that Turkey is focusing more on its self-interest in the Middle East. Erdogan is a devout Muslim with a fundamentalist past who, now that he is in power, has cemented his role by dismantling the checks and balances of the Turkish political system. With public backing and changing economic condition that favor Turkey, Erdogan has been able to steer Turkey away from its secularist roots and away from western influence.

I have always wondered about the affairs between states and political strategies the states apply to determine their relations. My interest and curiosity in affairs between states and their designated policies to determine their affairs became more obvious when I was at high school. I started to read about political history, specifically; political history of Europe between 16th – 20th centuries. Events like Thirty Years War, Treaty of Westphalia, French Revolution, First and Second World Wars in Europe, which shaped today’s international system in many ways, developed my interest in International Politics and their effects to the societies. Throughout high school years, In addition to my readings on European political history; my country, Turkey’s foreign policy influenced me to study on it. Turkey’s geostrategic position is unique and worthy to study. By security perspective, economically and politically stable Turkey is vital for the stability of the Middle East and Caucasus. Also important for the security of EU. By economic point of view, developing energy projects such as; TANAP (Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project), which will be passing through Turkey and existing energy projects such as; Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which is passing through Turkey, are important for energy distribution to Europe. Furthermore, Turkey can play an important role to enhance commercial and economic

For over a decade the United States has been entrenched in a war to resolve the political and cultural unrest in the Middle East. For many, the country of Turkey is the crucible of this region where the intersections of the main religious and cultural elements collide. Additionally, as a crossroads to Europe from Asia, Africa and the entire Middle East, Turkey remains an inherently important country due to its strategic geographic location. The pressures that are exerted on Turkey over the past century have led many within its borders to question its allegiances and the destiny of the country. Should it maintain the status quo based on the post-WWI political borders or should it pursue a return to times of the Ottoman Empire when it sat as the seat of power for what many would consider the Caliphate that presided over those lands at the time? As a strategic crossroads in many aspects, Turkey will remain important to United States policy in the region.

As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, new independent states were emerged and it was the time for the European Union (EU) to stretch towards its eastern neighbor countries in order to build relationships and bring them closer to the EU by promoting democracy. Alongside with the democratization of non-western countries, the primary goals of the EU was to establish a political community, to deepen and strengthen free trade zones, and as well as to abolish the visa regime within those eastern countries. In

European Union member states tend to be satisfied with their membership, as the benefits they perceive their nation to be receiving is in direct correlation to the economic benefits of EU membership. The Eurobarometer system provided charts, which graphed the statistical data of the questions asked throughout this analysis. Between the years 1994-2011 a question was asked to French and Czech citizens of their belief that EU membership had benefitted or not benefited their country overall. Data was not provided of the Czech response until 2004, as they were not European Union members until that initiation year. The

The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007 has been termed as the largest single expansion of the EU with a total of 12 new member states – bringing the number of members to 27 – and more than 77 million citizens joining the Commission (Murphy 2006, Neueder 2003, Ross 2011). A majority of the new member states in this enlargement are from the eastern part of the continent and were countries that had just emerged from communist economies (EC 2009, Ross 2011), although overall, the enlargement also saw new member states from very different economic, social and political compared to that of the old member states (EC 2009, Ross 2011). This enlargement was also a historical significance in European history, for it saw the

Stability, security, and prosperity are qualities every individual desires, yet achieving such conditions may be a struggle in certain parts of the world. In Europe where two world wars have erupted, multiple wars/battles have broken out between countries, and where the Black Plague swept through; causalities are high and resentment is established in some cultures. Yet the continent is beautiful everlasting landscape from the green rolling hills of Ireland to the snow-capped mountains of the Alps, every country has its beauty. A group of nations desired to keep European states safe and preserved, so they established the European Union (EU). Objectives of the European Union is to have respect for liberty, democracy, human rights,

From the filing of its EU membership application in 1987, Turkey has long attempted to become a member of the European Union. As of 2014, Turkey is still a candidate country for membership and its position doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. This paper will outline the various challenges Turkey faced in the past and its relation to current challenges facing her ascension to membership in the European Union. This will take the form of establishing Turkey’s position relative to other European nations from the end of the Second World War and how Turkey is progressing vis-à-vis

Long before Turkey was a nation and Europe was a continent, the people of those two lands have been warring. The Middle East, meanwhile, has developed its own culture of Islamic heritage and over time the European region has developed its own western culture. Caught in a tug of war is the nation of Turkey. This large nation spans the physical divide between the two regions. With borders touching Syria and Iraq on the east and western borders reaching to Bulgaria and Greece, Turkey finds itself in an awkward place. Europe is in a state of progress and development with the

Due to their permeability, national boundaries (symbolic, not physical) have been constantly reconstructed, reshaped and remodelled in order to accommodate the endless flows of information coming from foreign sources, thus allowing the formation of a global society which is no longer defined by ideological, historical or geographical boundaries. This can lead to a phenomenon which can be best described as a “borderless world” (Allen & Hamnett, 1995, cited in Chan and McIntyre, 2002, xv), with prime examples being the European Union, which promotes the values of freedom, equality and unity between its citizens, and, more specifically, the Schengen Area, whose member states have abolished passport and border controls between them altogether.

Over the years as the European identity developed, it inevitably came across the issue of justice and home affairs (JHA) and to what extant it had dictation over its member states’ borders. As the European Community and later the European Union established and expanded its policies over issues such as asylum, immigration and police, judicial cooperation, many began to criticize the European Union saying it was relinquishing the sovereignty of its member states. As the mandate over justice and home affairs moved from the national level to the European level, the EU had to figure how much jurisdiction they could have over member states’ borders without imposing on the national governments or living up to its reputation as ‘Fortress Europe.’

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the major waterways that boarders Turkey, along with the Aegean and the Black Seas (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). The Bosphorus strait is a fairly small waterway and the only geographical feature that separates Turkey from Europe. Part of Turkey’s territory is on the opposite side of the Bosphorus strait on the European continent. The small

Relations between Turkey and European integration institutions began with Turkey’s application for associate membership in the European Economic Community(EEC) in 1959. Turkey applied for full membership in the EEC in 1987 but did not gain candidate status until 1999. Since 1999, relations between Turkey and the European Union (EU) have gained momentum, and Turkey’s EU accession negotiations began in 2005. Since that time, discussions about the implications of Turkey’s prospective EU membership have become more serious and extensive in both Turkey and the EU.the potential advantages and drawbacks of Turkey’s EU membership for both Turkey and the EU. It considers economic, social, political, and security factors. When the enlargement