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I have no idea how this dictatorship is even considered for EU membership. Can someone explain this to me?

Deukhoofd 6y ago
It's not. At the moment all talks about its membership are frozen due to its more and more autocratic rule.
fennecfoxen 6y ago
When they were first seriously considering it, it wasn’t a dictatorship; things went seriously downhill in the past several years since then.
shp0ngle 6y ago
That EU membership was never serious
pjc50 6y ago
They applied in 1999. They were told what criteria to meet. They have not yet met them. This includes freedom and rule of law criteria. EU accession is not going to happen until Turkey is more like a normal European country.
- mertd 6y ago
  While true, let's not pretend the membership criteria were ever objectively evaluated in Turkey's case. It was always entangled with domestic politics of member countries. And one would wonder if member states like Poland and Hungary would meet such criteria right now.
- jetrink 6y ago
  It's hard to believe the process is still going on. I remember on the first day of a class in 2004, the instructor had everyone introduce ourselves. One of the students started with, "Hi, I'm from Turkey. You have probably heard about my country from our lame attempts to join the EU..."
  - pjc50 6y ago
    I don't think anyone wants to definitively close the door, because then a whole load of ugly follow-on questions like Cyprus get worse.
    - kyriakos 6y ago
      Cyprus has really nothing to do with this. If accession talks fail Republic of Cyprus is still the recognised government of the whole island but currently has no control over the the occupied area. Just like it was when Cyprus was accepted in EU. Turkish Cypriots already have EU citizenship via Republic of Cyprus, the only isolated population is the illegal Turkish settlers in North Cyprus.
      - tetris11 6y ago
        > Turkish Cypriots already have EU citizenship via Republic of Cyprus, the only isolated population is the illegal Turkish settlers in North Cyprus. Children of Turkish Cypriot and Turkish marriages are not granted passports. The relative isolationism of T/C as well as the high (recessive) Thalassemia, means T/C marry outside their villages quote often. T/C are therefore dwindling every generation due to one T parent voiding their passport rights, or inbreeding reducing their lifespans.
morsch 6y ago
There is zero actual consideration for membership in the last years or the forseeable future. It's a diplomatic fantasy. But it'd be a counterproductive affront to formally rule it out now, as it would give the guy political capital in interior politics. On the other hand, maybe it'll be useful as a threat in the future.

It's not. At the moment all talks about its membership are frozen due to its more and more autocratic rule.

When they were first seriously considering it, it wasn’t a dictatorship; things went seriously downhill in the past several years since then.

shp0ngle 6y ago

That EU membership was never serious

pjc50 6y ago

They applied in 1999. They were told what criteria to meet. They have not yet met them. This includes freedom and rule of law criteria. EU accession is not going to happen until Turkey is more like a normal European country.

mertd 6y ago
While true, let's not pretend the membership criteria were ever objectively evaluated in Turkey's case. It was always entangled with domestic politics of member countries. And one would wonder if member states like Poland and Hungary would meet such criteria right now.
jetrink 6y ago
It's hard to believe the process is still going on. I remember on the first day of a class in 2004, the instructor had everyone introduce ourselves. One of the students started with, "Hi, I'm from Turkey. You have probably heard about my country from our lame attempts to join the EU..."
- pjc50 6y ago
  I don't think anyone wants to definitively close the door, because then a whole load of ugly follow-on questions like Cyprus get worse.
  - kyriakos 6y ago
    Cyprus has really nothing to do with this. If accession talks fail Republic of Cyprus is still the recognised government of the whole island but currently has no control over the the occupied area. Just like it was when Cyprus was accepted in EU. Turkish Cypriots already have EU citizenship via Republic of Cyprus, the only isolated population is the illegal Turkish settlers in North Cyprus.
    - tetris11 6y ago
      > Turkish Cypriots already have EU citizenship via Republic of Cyprus, the only isolated population is the illegal Turkish settlers in North Cyprus. Children of Turkish Cypriot and Turkish marriages are not granted passports. The relative isolationism of T/C as well as the high (recessive) Thalassemia, means T/C marry outside their villages quote often. T/C are therefore dwindling every generation due to one T parent voiding their passport rights, or inbreeding reducing their lifespans.

morsch 6y ago

There is zero actual consideration for membership in the last years or the forseeable future. It's a diplomatic fantasy. But it'd be a counterproductive affront to formally rule it out now, as it would give the guy political capital in interior politics. On the other hand, maybe it'll be useful as a threat in the future.