Does Turkey’s Accession To The European Union Represents A Threat To Its Social And Territorial Cohesion?

Does Turkey’s accession to the European Union represents a threat to its social and
territorial cohesion?
Several authors agree on the efforts that have been made by Turkey since the era of Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk to become a more western country by adopting similar values to those of its European
neighbors, which would eventually allow it a better understanding with them1.
Turkey’s intentionto become closer to europe is also evidenced with the fact that the country has
become part of several international organizations that gather efforts to protect the European’s
interests. Turkey became a member of the Council of Europe in 1950, adhered to the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development “OECD” in 1948, the OTAN in 19522 and the
Organization for Security andCo-operation in Europe “OSCE” in 1973.
Additionally, on 1959 Turkey applied to be part of the European Economic Community (now the
European Union), application which was denied, proposing instead the establishment of an
association. As a consequence, few years later Turkey became an important commercial partner for
the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the “EU”) with the execution of theAnkara
Agreement on September 12, 19633 and the existence of a customs union between Turkey and the
EU since December, 19954, all of which intended to approximate Turkey to the European standards.
1 “Avec la déclaration de la République turque, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk visait un changement complet de l’image de son
pays et de son peuple, spécialement dans l’esprit du monde occidental. (...) De cepoint de vue, la déclaration de la
République en 1923 est également évaluée comme la pierre d’angle [milestone] du mouvement d’occidentalisation de
l’histoire turque.” Kuran - Burçoglu, Nedret. “L’Image des Turcs en Europe”. Article included in the book “Les
chemins de la Turquie vers l’Europe.” Chabal, Pierre; de Raulin, Arnaud. p. 74
2 “La Turquie adhère à l’OECD en 1948, au Conseil de l’Europeen 1950 et a l’OTAN en 1952 (et elle est associée à
l’UEO depuis 1991) (...)” Chabal, Pierre. “Le Dialogue Géopolitique Régional entre l’Europe et la Turquie”. Article
in the book “Les chemins de la Turquie vers l’Europe.” Chabal, Pierre; de Raulin, Arnaud. p. 91
3 Official Journal of the European Communities 1973, C113
4 Article 3(1) of Council Regulation 2913/92/EEC of 12 October 1992establishing the Community Customs Code (as
amended) (OJ L 302, 19.10.1992)
This approximation process was even more developed in 1999 when the Helsinki summit of the
European Council officially recognized Turkey as a candidate for a full membership in the EU.
Now in order to understand the criteria that will be considered to determine if Turkey may access
the EU, the provisions of the Treaty ofLisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the
Treaty establishing the European Community5 (hereinafter “Treaty of Lisbon”) shall be reviewed.
The aforementioned treaty contains several provisions that enlighten the grounds that gave birth to
the EU, its purpose, as well as the conditions and requirements that shall be met by the states which
want to become a part of it.
According to thepreamble of the Treaty of Lisbon the signatory states have undertaken certain
obligations in order to achieve the integration of Europe, which is inspired by the cultural, religious
and humanist heritage of Europe, which seeks among other things, to end the division of the
European continent and to deepen the solidarity between their peoples while respecting their
history, their culture andtheir traditions. The preamble also mentions that a key element to attain
those goals is the creation of a common citizenship, which together with the other elements stated
therein will allow to have an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe.6
Article 3 of the Treaty of Lisbon determines that the goals of the EU include the combat of social
exclusion and discrimination, the equality...