THE INTERNATIONAL SPECTATOR, NO. 3, 2004
Mustafa AYDIN and Sinem AKGÜL AÇIKMEŞE
Seventeen years after Turkey first knocked on Europe’s door for fullmembership, the European Commission took a crucial step on 6 October2004, recommending the Council to open accession negotiations withTurkey. As the final decision by the European leaders draws closer, thedebate on the pros and cons of Turkish membership intensifies, both inTurkey and the European Union (EU). On 28 May 2004, at a conferenceheld at Oxford University, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan declaredthat “the EU needs Turkey because of the strategic importance of theEastern Mediterranean within which Turkey possesses additional import-ance”. By professing that “ours is not a kind of political narcissism; Turkeyalso needs the EU”, he was reiterating European Commissioner GünterVerheugen’s declaration that “in the aftermath of September 11, it is clearerthan ever that the EU is indispensable for Turkey and Turkey isindispensable for the EU”.
----------------
* Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Ankara University.
** PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, Institute of Social Sciences, Ankara University.