Turkey moving forwards towards EU membership

The European Union’s head office has recommended that talks should commence regarding Turkey’s proposed membership into the EU. However, strict and rigid conditions were put in place to ensure that there would be no opportunity for the Turks to back-down from democratic and human rights reforms.

The decision to enter discussions was reached by a large consensus of commissioners said an EU official, although no vote was actually taken. There also was no set date provided for when the negotiations would begin.

"In principle, yes, but it also said that some conditions have to be fulfilled," EU Commissioner Franz Fischler said, as reported by AsiaNews. "There is no more ground to be opposed fundamentally to the start of entry talks. It is also clear that there is still a lot to do."

Turkey have longed to join the European Union, however the commission gave a stark warning that it would suspend or even halt negotiations if serious failures to respect democracy and human rights were persistently made.

The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) reported that despite the government reforms to facilitate the European Union, “the few who dare to profess Christ, face harassment, threats and prison.”

“Evangelism is difficult because Turks tend to think of Christians in the same category as Armenian terrorists and Jehovah's Witnesses. While proselytism is not specifically forbidden, many prosecutors and police view it was suspicion, arresting them for disturbing the peace, ‘insulting Islam,’ conducting unauthorized educational courses, etc,” said the persecution watchdog.

In addition to the obvious concerns about Turkey’s willingness to fall in line with the rest of the EU regarding human rights issues and democracy, many sources have also said that Christians in Turkey remain precluded from careers in the military and the higher levels of public office because they are held to be in a “suspect social group” for the country’s security.

Christians in Turkey cannot attend religious schools, as seminaries and schools for vocational formation have been abolished. This forces Christians to pursue their faith in foreign countries. Furthermore, Christians are not allowed to build more churches to accommodate the growing number of congregation members and Christians in the general community.

Turkey consists of 99.6% Muslims and just 0.3% Christians out of the 67 million population. Some have suggested that there could be a potential clash if a predominantly Muslim country was to be allowed into the EU. However, the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed these suggestions. He stated that although Turkey is very different in terms of religion, Europe is not a “Christian Club”, and that it would be possible to integrate well many different faiths and cultures.

Last month, Erdogan said, “What the EU is trying to do ... is to harmonise and to bring together and integrate different cultures and religions,"

It is thought that if the 25 EU leaders approve the European Commission’s recommendations during the December Summit, then the entry negotiations for Turkey could begin as soon as early 2005.