Turkey is too big, too poor, and above all too Islamic to join UE
(Jacques Chirac, Angela Merkel)
Something strange here. Turkey, which's very synonymous with the Islamic Caliphate, and for ordinary people are often classified into the Middle East region, it was insistent to join the EU. Is the Turkish region in mainland Europe? If we look at the map, Turkey puts one foot in Europe and one another in the Middle East (bordering with Iran and Iraq). Regardless of the territorial issue, why does Turkey insist on entering the EU?
A request to join the EU has been filed by Turkey since 1999. Until now, Turkey has been the rejection of Europeans (from various European polls), delays in decision-making from the EU sessions, and the lure of EU leaders. The lure, with various conditions that benefit Europe, of course. Among the European requirements for Turkey's membership are reformation, respect for human rights (and that is reciprocated by refusing to extradite Kurdish rebel leaders, in the name of human rights), bureaucracy (Turkey is a very bureaucratic state, an investor must pass a long row of tables to administrative problems), as well as, releasing its control over Cyprus.
Back to the first question, why does Turkey insist on entering the EU? Pro-EU Turkmen dream that their economy and prosperity will increase if Turkey becomes a member of the EU. Turkey hopes foreign investment from the West will flow into their country. Admittedly, with some 70 million inhabitants whose workforce is cheaply paid, Turkey has great potential to be a place to build factories, as well as a place for marketing Western products. But, that does not mean it will immediately improve the welfare of the people. According to the Netherlands Central Planning Bureau, Turkish trade with the EU will increase by only a third, after Turkey becomes a member of the EU. The welfare of the population will increase by only 9 percent compared to before becoming a member of the EU. In addition, there is nothing to lose from the economic side of an independent nation other than dependence on foreign products and demise of domestic products.
In fact, before becoming a member of the EU, Turkey's losses are already very large, that is to remain in the Western pressure aka not independent, as also experienced by other Muslim countries in the world. From a Muslim point of view, secularization and westernization rampant in Turkey have also brought great harm from the moral and ethical side. This bad condition will cause Turkey continuously collapsed and difficult to achieve glory as a Muslim nation.
From a European perspective, there are actually some advantages gained by accepting Turkey as a member. First, from the economic side. A decade from now, Turkey will provide young, innovative, educated, and low-paid workers; while Europe was dominated by the elderly (remember, the birth rate in Europe is very low, even minus in some countries) and the available manpower demands a high salary. European economic progress is in dire need of a young and cheap labor force. Second, from the political side. With Turkey joining, the EU can claim to be a global force, competing with the US and China. The EU can also claim to be a democratic, humanist, and human rights force (see the proof of Turkey, which Islam we accept as members).
But while on several occasions great Europeans expressed their support for Turkey's participation (among other things, Pope Benedict), their views on Turkey are still the same, Turkey is too big, too poor, and above all too Islamic to join EU (Turkey is too big, too poor, and above all, too Islamic to join the EU). All they have to do is lure tactics to take maximum advantage of the Turkish's insistence on joining the EU.