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Enthusiasm for EU Membership Wanes in Turkey
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Fewer Turks look forward to their country’s accession into the European Union (EU), according to a poll by Pollmark. 51 per cent of respondents support the bid to join the continental group, down 13 points since April 2005.
Turkey has been seeking inclusion in the EU for more than forty years, and filed a formal application to that effect in 1987. Since then, it has taken steps required only of members—including the establishment of a customs union—but was not accepted as a candidate state until 1999.
In October 2005, the EU officially began accession talks with Turkey. Last year, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn declared: "We have some tensions in EU-Turkey relations, but we can’t solve problems by dramatizing them. Instead, we have to work prudently and with full determination in order to find solutions."
In August, European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso welcomed the election of Abdullah Gul as Turkey’s new president, saying, "This will give fresh, immediate and positive impetus to accession talks. (...) We expect progress in a number of key areas."
On Nov. 5, Rehn called for specific changes, saying, "In Turkey, democracy prevailed over the political crisis. The new momentum should now be used to re-launch the reforms to improve fundamental freedoms, particularly the freedom of expression and religious freedom, so that they prevail in all corners of the country and in all walks of life."
Polling Data
Do you support or oppose Turkey’s accession into the European Union (EU)?
|
Oct. 2007 |
Apr. 2005 |
|
|
Support |
51% |
64% |
|
Oppose |
40% |
30% |
Source: Pollmark
Methodology: Interviews with 2,982 Turk adults, conducted from Oct. 17 to Oct. 20, 2007. No margin of error was provided.