Turkey's Cultural and Religious Heritage: An Asset to the European Union, Fall 2004

Noting that the basic principle of Roman law, pacta sunt servanda, is part of the European cultural heritage, the author argues that accession negotiations with Turkey should start as soon as the country meets the Copenhagen political criteria. The author addresses the arguments against Turkey’s membership to the EU and questions their validity. The identity dimension and the compatibility of Islam and democracy are taken up in depth in this framework.Ever since Turkey concluded an Association Agreement with the then European Community  in 1963, it  has pursued its ambitions of joining the European Union with the exception of a period in the 1970s when Bülent Ecevit was prime minister. Turkey entered into the Customs Union that has been in force since 1996 and its candidacy for membership of the EU was confirmed in Helsinki in 1999...Please click here to read the text in full.