While the odds of Turkey ever joining the EU are now diminished, it still makes for interesting conversation.
As a duel US/Turkish citizen, I often consider the desirability of Turkish ascension into the EU. On the one hand it is a monstrous bureaucracy, but on the other it would tame much of our national government’s (and our politically active military’s) excesses…
The indirect benefit of Turkish membership to the rest of Europe would be an immediate freeze to all further advances in political integration, which seems to be the main reason the UK is generally in favor of Turkish membership.
I’d favour Turks membership as it would dilute the amount of socialists, liberals and imperialists in the parliament.
I think the possibility for Turkey to become a member of the EU is greatly impeded not so much by economic but by political factors rather. Undoubtedly Turkey has an economy strong enough to integrate itself and to be desired as an economic partner in the EU and for that matter much more so than Bulgaria or Romania. The issues with the Kurds and the Armenian Genocide are still thorny and, moreover, I could always see Greece (if it continue to be part of the uniion) as absoultely unwilling to vote in favor of Turkish membership in the EU. Besides there are many people in the EU who are afraid of islamization, the most vociferous being the radical right-wing parties such as fascists, untranationists of all kinds etc. However, I have noticed that many parties in the EU - righ, center-right and even some leftists have begun accepting this rhetoric, wittingly or not, and seem to be cognizant of its implications. Another reason why I believe the EU is so hesitant to accept Turkey’s ascenssion is rather geo-political - Turkey’s Eastern neighbors are Iran and Syria, and the entire hot and bloody Middle East is going to be next door. Just my two cents…