Considering Article 1 "Why Europe Must Say Yes To Turkey” and Article 2 “The Impossibility of Saying No”, taken from “The Economist” 18th to the 24th September 2004, it can be easily understood they are strictly connected.
Firstly, the relationship between the titles is based on the antithesis between “yes” and “no”, so that the second title can be considered an extention of the first one. Secondly, the titles do not look objective but sound both in favour of the Turkish entrance within the Union.
Obviously, if the reader analyses only the two titles, he/she will not be sure about the position of the journalist because the two titles could also be ironic.
Lastly, if he/she analyzes the whole articles, he/she will find they deal with similar topics, but there is a fundamental difference: while the first article introduces the problem and gives a brief explanation, the second one discusses it considering all its aspects. The difference can be easily seen in the structure of the first article which is organised into three paragraphs: an introductory one, a second paragraph titled “ Risk and Reward” and a last one titled “Islamophobia”.
Right from the start, the first article focuses on the main points of the argument, being careful to provide data and information rather than limiting to the analysis of the situation. It adopts a structure between a bullet-style and an argumentative article and its aim is to depict an introductory portrayal.
Finally, considering the economy of the first article, the choice to write a whole paragraph about “Islamophobia” enlightens the importance of the topic dealt: if we consider the structure, we can say the paragraph has the same weight as the previous summary one, “Risk and Reward”.
Going in depth into the articles, it can surely be said that nowadays the possibility for Turkey to join the European Union is a crucial point.
Lots of European statesmen and thinkers are against, mainly because of its poverty: hence Turkey has a lower GDP than every Member State which now belongs to the Union. Besides, its society suffers from a precarious economy and its inhabitants are mainly farmers. Many people think that if the Union would give a financial help to Turkey, weakening its whole economy.
Moreover, there are several social conflicts which Turkey has to face: from Kurdish claims to the problems connected to the Cyprus invasion. Nonetheless, the possibility of a compatibility between Muslim religion and a democratic and liberal nation is a controversial point: on one hand, the Turkish leaders try to westernize the Country and on the other hand there are people who believe either that a Muslim nation is strictly connected to Integrism or Terrorism, or it is incompatible to human rights. Therefore they think about EU as a Christian alliance.
Nowadays, the struggle between the ones rejecting “Islamophobia” and people who believe in the strength of an alliance between States with a wide range of religions is growing and there are also some middle ways between the two extremes, as the one proposed by Angela Merker: to institute a special status for Turkey, making it joining the Union but not making it become a Member State.
Another important point of the struggle concerns Turkey size: with 779,452 km² and more than 66,450,000 inhabitants, Turkey would be very influent in voting in the European devices and its presence could make the difference.
One of the strongest argument against the entrance of Turkey within the Union refers to its position, lying only for about 1/33 of its whole area in the European continent.
Eventually, the strongest argument in favour underlines the Turkish evolution in order to meet the “Copenhagen criteria”, focusing on economy and social rights. Economy has flourished and new rights, such as the abolition of death penalty or the reduction of the punishments due to adultery, have been reached.
Both in the last decades and in the last centuries, Turkish history has been connected more to Europe than to Asia and, nonetheless, the most important city of the Country lies in the European portion.
Teacher: Very well done!