Culture vs. EU: How Turkey is More Than Just a Political Problem
Social, religious, and historical forces are at play in the question of Turkish Accession to the European Union.
This could easily translate into a powder keg situation if Turkey were to be admitted into the European Union. The disparate goals in foreign policy between the two polities could create friction as Turkish representatives and bureaucrats attempt to block or delay movements within the union that would be detrimental to Turkish national interests but beneficial to other member states or Western Europe.
Turkish membership to the European Union faces many challenges to its success on a cultural and societal level. Human beings are social animals and as such are influenced by one another and the way in which others think. This has been a defining aspect of culture and society, and it would be unreasonable to expect politics to be immune to the cultural undercurrents that run through societies.
The presence of many anti-western or radical Islamic groups in Turkish politics points to the prevalence of culture on an international scale. Western Europe and Turkey/The Ottoman Empire have been at odds historically and come from two incredibly varied traditions. The Ottomans had more in common with Persian, Arabic, and Islamic culture whereas Europe looked to Greece and Rome for their antiquity; nations with cultural notions of a Persian antagonist.
On a religious level, Turkey is overwhelmingly Muslim and religious, with religion playing a major and guiding role in the lives of the average citizen. Contrastingly, original members of the European Union, who initially found the polity, come from a Christian tradition with citizens placing a much smaller emphasis on religion in daily life.
Gender roles are also viewed differently in Turkey than they are in the European Union. Turkish citizens are more likely to disapprove of institutionalized measure for gender equality in the workplace.
The cultural disparities between Turkey and Western Europe are profound and many. There is no normative or objective value of one over the other but the two are incompatible on a large scale.
SOURCES
1. Gerhards, Jurgen. Cultural Overstretch? New York: Routledge, 2007.
2. Ali, Karaosmanoglu L. “Europe’s Geopolitical Parameters.” Turkey and Central and Eastern European Countries in Transition: Towards Membership of the EU. New York: Plagrave, 2001. 271-89.
3. http:///www.World-war-2.info
4. Quataert, Donald. The Ottoman Empire 1700-1922. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge, 2005.
5. Lockman, Zachary. Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism (The Contemporary Middle East). New York: Cambridge, 2004.
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