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Well now, I guess because Turkey has a bit of land in Europe, it just has to join the EU, right?

Wrong

I really don't see why Turkey wants to be in the European Union, maybe it wants to feel special by joining another club. I even think that Turkey started to prepare to be a part of Europe when Kemal Ataturk westernized Turkey back in the 20s. They've done their best to shed the Middle Eastern image of their neighbours and they really don't fit in the Europe scene, so where does that put them in terms of national identity?

To start, the point on how Turkey will open to new markets is made moot by the fact that neighbouring non-European countries aren't worth investors time (Iraq isn't ready yet and Syria is still apart of the "Axis of Evil" to give some examples). The rich oil states are the ones attracting foreign business to that region. Also, the fact that Turkey is ruled by an Islamic party might upset some of the European nations, including various Christian political parties that don't have a friendly view of Islam, to put it nicely.

Cyprus. An island in the Mediterranean Sea with a divide past. It remains divided to this day, between Greek south and Turkish north. Why do we need big brothers Greece and Turkey to help their kin on the island when they can decide for themselves? In recent elections, Dimitris Christofias of the communist AKEL party was elected on the platform that he would resolve the Cyprus issue and advocate for the closure of the two permanent British Bases, which is another issue. The fact that there are British bases on Cyprus (Britain was the former colonial master of Cyprus) doesn't really help the Cyprus issue a lot, nor does the fact that Turkey INVADED Cyprus in the 70s help resolve the conflict.

Europe may be wealthy, but maybe Turkey should negotiate with her Arab neighbours, the rich ones, and maybe act as a middle man between Europe and the Middle East. If Turkey negotiated as a non-EU country for the Arab states, they can negotiate their own prices instead of being regulated by the EU bureaucracy.

If Turks are very feverent about their nation, how would they feel if they joined the European Union? If you're driving up to the border in Europe, the only thing you are greeted by is a sign saying "Welcome to So-and-so". How would you feel if your country was reduced to a road sign? No "Welcome to the Republic of Turkey" in big flashing letters, just a road sign. The European Union also displays its views to the world as a group. So instead of "Turkey says", it becomes "The EU has said".

Turkey is better off on it's own than in the European Union.

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