Turkey and Europe in a historic

Abstract

Despite well advanced negotiations in the European Union regarding the full Turkish membership recently some powerful European politicians as well as others have expressed reservations about it which came as a shock to many in Europe and beyond. Turkey started negotiations with the EU in 1959 (has been the only non-member country with a customs union) and is still waiting to become a full member. The main argument of the opposing politicians appears to be that Turkey is not really a European country. This paper looks at the history of Europe and Turkey and concludes that the two are inseparably linked. Some politicians see the European Union as a Christian club and thus the spiritual disposition of the Turks appears to be the real problem for them. © 2009 A B Academic Publishers. © 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.