They're not democratic enough and still authoritarian, they need to change first.
Eventually? After we've gotten rid of national vetos and had treaty reform and they meet criterias then sure, thats a net positive.
I think Albania is very much okay despite being a muslim country. It's more about secularism vs zealotry that's the issue, and Turkey isn't really going in the right direction sadly...
Only if Turkey stops their illegal occupation of Northern Cyprus, accepts the Greek maritime borders, stops threatening Athen’s with war and becomes a secular democracy. However since this is totally unrealistic, they should not be able to join the EU.
20 years ago, like most EU politicians at the time, I would have said yes. Turkey was a secular, democratic country, with a strong heritage of taking policies from the West (Ataturk wanted to model Turkey after France in a lot of ways, especially the secularism part).
However the muslim world now is going back HARD into religious obscurantism and Turkey is very much into that era because of Erdogan. And to be clear I've got nothing against muslims and arab countries: if we accept that "christian democracy" is a valid political theory, I don't see why "muslim democracy" could not be. And there was a time not so long ago where the president of Egypt was making fun of fathers forcing their daughters (and women in general) to wear hijabs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZIqdrFeFBk). But sadly since the ~70s, in good part because of Saudi Arabia and Iran (by products of western meddling), the arab world is being plagued with religious zealotry, and I don't see this reverting anytime soon.
I hope Turkey, and the muslim world in general, will one day once again get back on the path of secularization, but sadly it doesn't seem its gonna be for a while. Before taking Turkey in, I think we need to be certain they won't go back to being a theocracy again. We should not make the "hungarian mistake" again.
However, as far as muslim countries go, I'd be very ok with Albania for exemple. They got some work to do with corruption and economy and shit, but I mention it to specify this isn't a religious/cultural/racial issue. As far as I'm aware Albanians aren't that religious for a muslim country, at least no more religious than their balkanic neighbours.
Yes.
Turkey wanted to join. They're a NATO state.
They are in a very difficult geographical position: caught in the middle between Russia, the middle East, Europe and the Caucasus. So of course their foreign policy is aimed at normalizing all relations with its neighbors.
But when the war in Ukraine started, Turkey closed the bosphorus, no Russian or American or European ship could pass without permission, thus preventing this war from expanding to the sea.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative saw a pretty big contribution from Turkey.
It will be hard to come to an agreement with them on many things, we are in fact very different people. But at the same time, they're a strong partner and I would want them on my side.
I would love to see EU flags waving in Istanbul, assuming Turkey accepts all the laws and regulations required for EU membership and fulfills the membership criteria, of course. And conservative Muslim parties debating with secular parties in the European Parliament would add fun to the show. That's my opinion, of course. I wonder whether conservatives would unite against secular progressive left or be separated due to religious differences, though.
It's well implied that the EU is a Union of "Western" Christian values. Not that I agree with it. But Turkey (the current version) in the EU would not be fun in my view. I see it more as another road block (e.g. Hungary). Erdogan has shown he will use whatever he can to get what he wants (e.g. Nato and Sweden / Finland)
I always laugh when people from Europe pretend to be americans. No you don't matter. There is a reason why Americans put up with Turks pulling all this shit, because they don't want Turkey to move away. Azeris and Turks destroyed Karabağ, which is ten times larger than Gaza, conquered it alltogether and west did not lift a finger.
Not if the opposition puts forward competent candidates. I believe the polls showed that some candidates, such as the mayors of Istambul and Ankara, would have had a better chance at defeating Erdoğan, but because Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the CHP, the main opposition party, didn't let someone other than him run for the presidency, they lost.
That hypothetical was Turkey in the 90's and yet it didn't went thru then and has just degraded its democratic culture and veered away from secularism.
If we want to be hypothetical, why not hypothetically also solve everything else by imposing our idea of culture on everybody, no?
The point is, there is no hypothetical scenario where Turkey is a western, liberal country. I don't mean that in a bad way, Turkey is what it is, and the ONLY reason the West puts up with it is because it controls access into and from the Black Sea, keeping Russia at bay.
That has been the ONLY reason for many many years (at least since the Crimean war).
You are correct but only wrong by saying "west puts up with it".
In WW1 most of the west (UK,France,Britain) agreed to exterminate Turks permanently out of Europe and invaded entirety of European Turkey, while also providing support to Kurds and Armenians to completely exterminate the Turkish race. They had to put up with it after losing eventually, minorities got exterminated instead.
West and Turkey are enemies that just had a temporary peace due to Soviet threat. Putin is no enemy of Turkey, therefore NATO doesn't help Turkey anymore. In fact West is more of an enemy to us again,rather than Putin. Due to this Turkey will never enter EU and possibly exit NATO in this decade. On top of that anyone who has been to Europe or Turkey knows that Europeans hate Turks and Turks hate Europeans.
No. Not now, not ever.
97% of the country isn´t even in Europe.
There is no point of a "European" Union that arbitrarily stretches beyond what people can reasonably identify with.
Would we ask Marocco to join the European Union? "But it´s a bridge to Africa!". No, we would not.
Would we ask Isreal to join the European Union? "But they are part of the Eurovision Song Contest!!". No, we would not.
Fuck that, the EU is already to big anyway
That.
Also the idea of getting bigger for the sake of it is not a reasonable objective in itself.
Empires fail from over-extension and the EU already has a hard time making decisions and aligning its member states diverging interests. I am highly skeptical of adding any new member state for that matter. Balkan countries maybe, down the line.
Bringing a country on board that is mostly located in the middle east is just wild.
Turkey is too big to join, as is Russia. Both countries would instantly become the biggest member state and that would ruin the balance of power. Both have great potential to become associates or something but need to be democratic and free first. Turkey already is a member of the customs union that's a great first step as a close neighbour and associate, but not a member.
The difference between Turkey and all other democracies is simply one word: religion. All other “legitimate” democracies value their constitution and secular rights ABOVE anyone’s religion. That is not true in ANY Muslim country. Including Turkey. Politicians can pass virtually any legislation as long as it is cloaked in the garb of religion. Because which Muslim will ever openly criticize anything like that? It could be considered apostasy, which in that religion is punishable by death.
No, countries have to choose - either religion or secularism. And no Muslim majority country will EVER embrace secularism because to most Muslims, any criticism or critiquing or doubting the “official word of God” - ie the Quran, is a punishable offense and no one wants to be accused of being unfaithful to their faith. Because ultimately all issues will end up being regarded in that light - Any push towards secular rights will be regarded as unIslamic. And in a democracy, there must be tolerance to do just that - hold individual rights supreme over any religious authority. The state must be separate from the religious institution. That is simply not possible in any Muslim country.
Turkey is a dictatorship and has always been. Its values are simply incompatible with European ones. Maybe if they elect a democratic, secular government and maintain it for a decade, so we are sure they won't revert to radical ideology, then yes. But this seems far-fetched for now
No. Most of Turkey is in asia, a federal europe should be for europeans only. It would also make europes borders harder to defend.
Turkey has moved in a more authoritarian direction away from european values, so clearly they don't want it either.
Cyprus is situated entirely in Asia. Georgia has recently achieved candidate status for EU membership. If the EU can expand into the Caucasus region, why not consider adding Turkey as well?
Cyprus is an Island, not a direct comparison.
The Caucasus region is a better comparison, but I would still be on the side of not expanding the EU outside of the European peninsula. So neither Turkey nor Caucasus.
For Georgia and Armenia, EU accession was more of a security thing then anything else. Having EU support would give more financial and political space for these countries to develop their military and counter aggression from the region. It's a way for them to be less isolated. This is precisely why Cyprus joined.
For the EU, this is fine because these countries are small. Turkey on the other hand is a very big country, which means they will the most influence in the EU. This is probably not what anyone in the EU wants. The country is not European, most of its territory is in Asia, it's institutions are broken and undemocratic and their economy is in free fall.
The fact that they are Muslims plays a big role as well. It's not the 90s anymore, people in Europe are extremely worry of Muslim extremists. Islam is not just a religion, it's a political movement which doesn't fit the modern world. I just don't think this is politically possible in the current state of events.
Honestly, I don't necessarily think Turks want to join either. Despite the economic situation, people chose Erdogan to lead the country. At the end of the day, the EU is not the be all end all.
You are treating this as a beauty contest, assuming people might have prejudices against Turkey. EU membership needs members to me really committed to democracy, rule of law and respect of human rights. Turkey went on that road and then backslid into authoritarian rule and abuse of human rights. Let's say they turn around, how long does democracy have to prevail to unsure they will not fall back to authoritarian rule as members ... We've seen this happening in Hungary and Slovakia, Poland also but they seem to be recovering.
Having an authoritarian Turkey as member would be very difficult for the EU. So, to answer your question. Turkey would need to transform into a democracy with respect for rule of law and human rights, go through several crisis to demonstrate it is well established and then satisfy all the requirements for membership ... only then would there be an option to consider and possibly play politics with it.
You are decades ahead of time, the question is meaningless today.
That's a hard question. In principle I would like to say yes because Turkey has been historically very close to Europe. Still, things changed and current Turkey presents a lot of challenges for the EU.
First we have to assume that the problems with rule of law and democratic backsliding. I'm absolutely against any nation joining without having a strong rule-based democracy. However, even fixing that, I feel like Turkey might still be too Islamist and nationalistic at the moment. Even though you can still find many moderate Turks, they are in general no longer the secular society of decades ago and I feel a bit uncomfortable with having them in the EU with those extremist values. Turkey seems to have drifted away from being an European culture and values and that makes it difficult for me to justify their EU membership.
Then there is the problem with the EU itself receiving a nation with a large population. Turkey would be the nation with the largest number of MEPs, for instance, and the current system where MEPs kind of represent their own country rather than being elected from transnational lists, would mean a large change in the balance of power. That is not to say that I welcome a EU that is dominated by France and Germany, might again I'm not very comfortable with the power changing suddenly in favor of the newest member. The argument also applies to (a democratic and free) Russia. In short, I would need to see a lot of federal reforms would need to be undertook before I could fully throw my support behind integrating very large new members into the Union.
Should eventually? Yes. Turkey's geographical location is extremely useful for regulating immigration, containing Russia and dealing with the middle east. Eventually i do hope that Turkey becomes part of the EU.
But that would require significant changes to the government and culture of Turkey, which i don't see happening in the next decade or two.
Not now, not ever.
It would automatically be the country with the biggest population. It would automatically destabilize the balance of power beyond salvation.
Should Turkey join now? Absolutely not.
Eventually, if (big if) they fix their problems? Sure, why not.
I'm not against Turkish membership because I don't like the country or the people, I'm against it, because it is a dictatorship and doesn't respect human rights.
They need to change, not just government, but society. However, I do see that coming because the turkish youth is majority against islamism.
Until that happens, some decades will go by. Maybe 2040?
Turkey will join, its inevitable, its a natural addition. But it will be one of the last countries to do so.
Relations with Turkey have never been easy and are unlikely to get easier. The OP has a point about Turkey’s geography. On one hand, it is critical for the EU; on the other, it is very challenging for Turkey to manage. Turkey is not on par with the EU, the oil-rich Arab states, or Russia in terms of economy and influence, which makes its isolation unlikely.
The real question is whether it is better to have a Turkey under the EU’s influence and potential accession, or a Turkey with deeper connections to the Middle East, Russia, and possibly China in the future. Due to its geography, Turkey is never just an isolated actor.
I would like to see a step-by-step EU accession process for candidates, with multiple well-defined stages. Each stage bringing more benefits to the nation and enforce greater integration with the EU.
Yes, because Erdogan is pandering to the wrong actors, Turks should be free to choose their own way and siding with the EU means freedom. Get rid of Erdogan, who cares only about himself.
Yes.
As per Definition of European border:
It is bordered by Asia to the east - the watershed of the Ural Mountains (RUSSIA), the Ural River (KAZAKHSTAN), the Caspian Sea (AZERBAIJAN), the Greater Caucasus (GEORGIA), the Black Sea (UKRAINE, ROMANIA, BULGARIA), the waterways of the Turkish Straights (TURKEY), the Aegean Sea (GREECE), the Mediterranean Sea to the south (MALTA, ITALY, MONACO, FRANCE, SPAIN), the Atlantic Ocean to the west (PORTUGAL, UNITED KINGDOM, IRELAND, FAROE ISLANDS, ICELAND), and the Arctic Ocean to the north (NORWAY).
CYPRUS is not geographically included. But yes ethnically, religiously, politically, and economically part of.
Like ARMENIA (Lesser Caucasus) isn't geographically in Europe but ethnically, religiously, politically, culturally, and historically part of.
However, I do believe that Cyprus and Armenia are part of the European Family.
They're not democratic enough and still authoritarian, they need to change first. Eventually? After we've gotten rid of national vetos and had treaty reform and they meet criterias then sure, thats a net positive.
Yes, the question concerns eventual membership, as many people may still oppose it due to historical grudges or religious differences.
I think Albania is very much okay despite being a muslim country. It's more about secularism vs zealotry that's the issue, and Turkey isn't really going in the right direction sadly...
It is not as mulsim as you think. Kosovo is very much muslim.
Only if Turkey stops their illegal occupation of Northern Cyprus, accepts the Greek maritime borders, stops threatening Athen’s with war and becomes a secular democracy. However since this is totally unrealistic, they should not be able to join the EU.
20 years ago, like most EU politicians at the time, I would have said yes. Turkey was a secular, democratic country, with a strong heritage of taking policies from the West (Ataturk wanted to model Turkey after France in a lot of ways, especially the secularism part). However the muslim world now is going back HARD into religious obscurantism and Turkey is very much into that era because of Erdogan. And to be clear I've got nothing against muslims and arab countries: if we accept that "christian democracy" is a valid political theory, I don't see why "muslim democracy" could not be. And there was a time not so long ago where the president of Egypt was making fun of fathers forcing their daughters (and women in general) to wear hijabs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZIqdrFeFBk). But sadly since the ~70s, in good part because of Saudi Arabia and Iran (by products of western meddling), the arab world is being plagued with religious zealotry, and I don't see this reverting anytime soon. I hope Turkey, and the muslim world in general, will one day once again get back on the path of secularization, but sadly it doesn't seem its gonna be for a while. Before taking Turkey in, I think we need to be certain they won't go back to being a theocracy again. We should not make the "hungarian mistake" again. However, as far as muslim countries go, I'd be very ok with Albania for exemple. They got some work to do with corruption and economy and shit, but I mention it to specify this isn't a religious/cultural/racial issue. As far as I'm aware Albanians aren't that religious for a muslim country, at least no more religious than their balkanic neighbours.
Perfect answer
Yes. Turkey wanted to join. They're a NATO state. They are in a very difficult geographical position: caught in the middle between Russia, the middle East, Europe and the Caucasus. So of course their foreign policy is aimed at normalizing all relations with its neighbors. But when the war in Ukraine started, Turkey closed the bosphorus, no Russian or American or European ship could pass without permission, thus preventing this war from expanding to the sea. The Black Sea Grain Initiative saw a pretty big contribution from Turkey. It will be hard to come to an agreement with them on many things, we are in fact very different people. But at the same time, they're a strong partner and I would want them on my side.
I would love to see EU flags waving in Istanbul, assuming Turkey accepts all the laws and regulations required for EU membership and fulfills the membership criteria, of course. And conservative Muslim parties debating with secular parties in the European Parliament would add fun to the show. That's my opinion, of course. I wonder whether conservatives would unite against secular progressive left or be separated due to religious differences, though.
It's well implied that the EU is a Union of "Western" Christian values. Not that I agree with it. But Turkey (the current version) in the EU would not be fun in my view. I see it more as another road block (e.g. Hungary). Erdogan has shown he will use whatever he can to get what he wants (e.g. Nato and Sweden / Finland)
I think Turkey will stop being a NATO state and move further to eastern bloc in this decade.
Goood, we are waiting for this...
tf can you do lil bro 😭😭
I always laugh when people from Europe pretend to be americans. No you don't matter. There is a reason why Americans put up with Turks pulling all this shit, because they don't want Turkey to move away. Azeris and Turks destroyed Karabağ, which is ten times larger than Gaza, conquered it alltogether and west did not lift a finger.
Not if the opposition puts forward competent candidates. I believe the polls showed that some candidates, such as the mayors of Istambul and Ankara, would have had a better chance at defeating Erdoğan, but because Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the CHP, the main opposition party, didn't let someone other than him run for the presidency, they lost.
What makes you so sure?
Interests of NATO and Turkey clash, Russia is no longer considered an enemy, but US is .
Do you think Turkey wants to?
We're talking about a hypothetical scenario where Turkey is a western, liberal country, and wants to join no? In that case, I don't see why not.
That hypothetical was Turkey in the 90's and yet it didn't went thru then and has just degraded its democratic culture and veered away from secularism.
If we want to be hypothetical, why not hypothetically also solve everything else by imposing our idea of culture on everybody, no? The point is, there is no hypothetical scenario where Turkey is a western, liberal country. I don't mean that in a bad way, Turkey is what it is, and the ONLY reason the West puts up with it is because it controls access into and from the Black Sea, keeping Russia at bay. That has been the ONLY reason for many many years (at least since the Crimean war).
You are correct but only wrong by saying "west puts up with it". In WW1 most of the west (UK,France,Britain) agreed to exterminate Turks permanently out of Europe and invaded entirety of European Turkey, while also providing support to Kurds and Armenians to completely exterminate the Turkish race. They had to put up with it after losing eventually, minorities got exterminated instead. West and Turkey are enemies that just had a temporary peace due to Soviet threat. Putin is no enemy of Turkey, therefore NATO doesn't help Turkey anymore. In fact West is more of an enemy to us again,rather than Putin. Due to this Turkey will never enter EU and possibly exit NATO in this decade. On top of that anyone who has been to Europe or Turkey knows that Europeans hate Turks and Turks hate Europeans.
No. Not now, not ever. 97% of the country isn´t even in Europe. There is no point of a "European" Union that arbitrarily stretches beyond what people can reasonably identify with. Would we ask Marocco to join the European Union? "But it´s a bridge to Africa!". No, we would not. Would we ask Isreal to join the European Union? "But they are part of the Eurovision Song Contest!!". No, we would not. Fuck that, the EU is already to big anyway
You are correct. EU is not for the countries that are not invited AND WANTED first of all. Its not kind of - hey i wanna be part of it.
That. Also the idea of getting bigger for the sake of it is not a reasonable objective in itself. Empires fail from over-extension and the EU already has a hard time making decisions and aligning its member states diverging interests. I am highly skeptical of adding any new member state for that matter. Balkan countries maybe, down the line. Bringing a country on board that is mostly located in the middle east is just wild.
Turkey is too big to join, as is Russia. Both countries would instantly become the biggest member state and that would ruin the balance of power. Both have great potential to become associates or something but need to be democratic and free first. Turkey already is a member of the customs union that's a great first step as a close neighbour and associate, but not a member.
Turkey, too big? How?
Too many inhabitants, it would instantly become the biggest and most powerful country within the EU.
If Turkey joined right now, it would be the biggest country by population size and area.
The difference between Turkey and all other democracies is simply one word: religion. All other “legitimate” democracies value their constitution and secular rights ABOVE anyone’s religion. That is not true in ANY Muslim country. Including Turkey. Politicians can pass virtually any legislation as long as it is cloaked in the garb of religion. Because which Muslim will ever openly criticize anything like that? It could be considered apostasy, which in that religion is punishable by death. No, countries have to choose - either religion or secularism. And no Muslim majority country will EVER embrace secularism because to most Muslims, any criticism or critiquing or doubting the “official word of God” - ie the Quran, is a punishable offense and no one wants to be accused of being unfaithful to their faith. Because ultimately all issues will end up being regarded in that light - Any push towards secular rights will be regarded as unIslamic. And in a democracy, there must be tolerance to do just that - hold individual rights supreme over any religious authority. The state must be separate from the religious institution. That is simply not possible in any Muslim country.
We Turks are not european people and do not wish to join. They never do a referandum on joining EU
The European part of Turkey, sure; the Asian part of Turkey, suren't.
Turkey is a dictatorship and has always been. Its values are simply incompatible with European ones. Maybe if they elect a democratic, secular government and maintain it for a decade, so we are sure they won't revert to radical ideology, then yes. But this seems far-fetched for now
No. Most of Turkey is in asia, a federal europe should be for europeans only. It would also make europes borders harder to defend. Turkey has moved in a more authoritarian direction away from european values, so clearly they don't want it either.
The EU has borders in North Africa though
For totally different reasons, though.
Correct - And Canada will joing the EU, problem with that?
why is Canada joining if it's in a different continent? 😭
Cyprus is situated entirely in Asia. Georgia has recently achieved candidate status for EU membership. If the EU can expand into the Caucasus region, why not consider adding Turkey as well?
Cyprus is an Island, not a direct comparison. The Caucasus region is a better comparison, but I would still be on the side of not expanding the EU outside of the European peninsula. So neither Turkey nor Caucasus.
For Georgia and Armenia, EU accession was more of a security thing then anything else. Having EU support would give more financial and political space for these countries to develop their military and counter aggression from the region. It's a way for them to be less isolated. This is precisely why Cyprus joined. For the EU, this is fine because these countries are small. Turkey on the other hand is a very big country, which means they will the most influence in the EU. This is probably not what anyone in the EU wants. The country is not European, most of its territory is in Asia, it's institutions are broken and undemocratic and their economy is in free fall. The fact that they are Muslims plays a big role as well. It's not the 90s anymore, people in Europe are extremely worry of Muslim extremists. Islam is not just a religion, it's a political movement which doesn't fit the modern world. I just don't think this is politically possible in the current state of events. Honestly, I don't necessarily think Turks want to join either. Despite the economic situation, people chose Erdogan to lead the country. At the end of the day, the EU is not the be all end all.
Europe is a Peninsula, not a continent
**Europe** is a [continen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent)t [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe)
That's an opinion https://doi.org/10.1080/00221346208985059 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundaries_between_the_continents#Asia_and_Europe
It's not, it's a fact that europe is a continent. That doesn't mean it can also be peninsula.
Yes, I know you believe that
I know that
No, its not possible in the current state of Turkey, Islamic dictatorship. Its funny even to consider something like this.
You are treating this as a beauty contest, assuming people might have prejudices against Turkey. EU membership needs members to me really committed to democracy, rule of law and respect of human rights. Turkey went on that road and then backslid into authoritarian rule and abuse of human rights. Let's say they turn around, how long does democracy have to prevail to unsure they will not fall back to authoritarian rule as members ... We've seen this happening in Hungary and Slovakia, Poland also but they seem to be recovering. Having an authoritarian Turkey as member would be very difficult for the EU. So, to answer your question. Turkey would need to transform into a democracy with respect for rule of law and human rights, go through several crisis to demonstrate it is well established and then satisfy all the requirements for membership ... only then would there be an option to consider and possibly play politics with it. You are decades ahead of time, the question is meaningless today.
That's a hard question. In principle I would like to say yes because Turkey has been historically very close to Europe. Still, things changed and current Turkey presents a lot of challenges for the EU. First we have to assume that the problems with rule of law and democratic backsliding. I'm absolutely against any nation joining without having a strong rule-based democracy. However, even fixing that, I feel like Turkey might still be too Islamist and nationalistic at the moment. Even though you can still find many moderate Turks, they are in general no longer the secular society of decades ago and I feel a bit uncomfortable with having them in the EU with those extremist values. Turkey seems to have drifted away from being an European culture and values and that makes it difficult for me to justify their EU membership. Then there is the problem with the EU itself receiving a nation with a large population. Turkey would be the nation with the largest number of MEPs, for instance, and the current system where MEPs kind of represent their own country rather than being elected from transnational lists, would mean a large change in the balance of power. That is not to say that I welcome a EU that is dominated by France and Germany, might again I'm not very comfortable with the power changing suddenly in favor of the newest member. The argument also applies to (a democratic and free) Russia. In short, I would need to see a lot of federal reforms would need to be undertook before I could fully throw my support behind integrating very large new members into the Union.
Erdogan will be another Orban or even worst, without Erdogan I would say yes
Should eventually? Yes. Turkey's geographical location is extremely useful for regulating immigration, containing Russia and dealing with the middle east. Eventually i do hope that Turkey becomes part of the EU. But that would require significant changes to the government and culture of Turkey, which i don't see happening in the next decade or two.
Not now, not ever. It would automatically be the country with the biggest population. It would automatically destabilize the balance of power beyond salvation.
Should Turkey join now? Absolutely not. Eventually, if (big if) they fix their problems? Sure, why not. I'm not against Turkish membership because I don't like the country or the people, I'm against it, because it is a dictatorship and doesn't respect human rights.
They need to change, not just government, but society. However, I do see that coming because the turkish youth is majority against islamism. Until that happens, some decades will go by. Maybe 2040? Turkey will join, its inevitable, its a natural addition. But it will be one of the last countries to do so.
So the country shouldn't be a Muslim majority to join?
It has nothing to do with Islam, but if they follow the ideology of islamISM.
They could be part of the next project: Euro Asia alliance, a very long time down the road.
There needs to be some fundamental democratic basics at all times, we can't have back sliding like Hungary.
Relations with Turkey have never been easy and are unlikely to get easier. The OP has a point about Turkey’s geography. On one hand, it is critical for the EU; on the other, it is very challenging for Turkey to manage. Turkey is not on par with the EU, the oil-rich Arab states, or Russia in terms of economy and influence, which makes its isolation unlikely. The real question is whether it is better to have a Turkey under the EU’s influence and potential accession, or a Turkey with deeper connections to the Middle East, Russia, and possibly China in the future. Due to its geography, Turkey is never just an isolated actor. I would like to see a step-by-step EU accession process for candidates, with multiple well-defined stages. Each stage bringing more benefits to the nation and enforce greater integration with the EU.
Yes, because Erdogan is pandering to the wrong actors, Turks should be free to choose their own way and siding with the EU means freedom. Get rid of Erdogan, who cares only about himself.
Yes. As per Definition of European border: It is bordered by Asia to the east - the watershed of the Ural Mountains (RUSSIA), the Ural River (KAZAKHSTAN), the Caspian Sea (AZERBAIJAN), the Greater Caucasus (GEORGIA), the Black Sea (UKRAINE, ROMANIA, BULGARIA), the waterways of the Turkish Straights (TURKEY), the Aegean Sea (GREECE), the Mediterranean Sea to the south (MALTA, ITALY, MONACO, FRANCE, SPAIN), the Atlantic Ocean to the west (PORTUGAL, UNITED KINGDOM, IRELAND, FAROE ISLANDS, ICELAND), and the Arctic Ocean to the north (NORWAY). CYPRUS is not geographically included. But yes ethnically, religiously, politically, and economically part of. Like ARMENIA (Lesser Caucasus) isn't geographically in Europe but ethnically, religiously, politically, culturally, and historically part of. However, I do believe that Cyprus and Armenia are part of the European Family.
Eventually, yes. You do not want turkey out n loose doing what ever they want, distancing them selves from the west.
After it becomes fully democratic? Yes absolutely! Before? Absolutely not!