The Likelihood of Turkey's Accession into the European Union: A Controversial Inquiry

Abstract

Turkey's accession into the European Union is immensely controversial. The contentious nature of Turkey's accession largely stems from its Islamic heritage, which has caused the county to struggle with the separation of church and state. Although the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 on the notion that the state would be secular, the country has difficulty upholding this principle because ninety-nine percent of the population is Muslim. Furthermore, there has been increasing public support for political parties that support theocratic governance, or alternatively, a plurality of legal systems categorizing individuals based on their religious beliefs. Because of Turkey's struggle to lessen religious influence, the country has a history of suppressing individual civil and political rights in order to preserve the principles of secularism and democracy, particularly when it comes to freedom of association and freedom of religion. For example, Turkey has dissolved political parties in favor of theocratic governance and has prohibited women from wearing headscarves on university campuses.