EU Enlargement - Analysis about magazine and newspaper articles [5A]
Silvia Baldo - From The Economist - Special Report - Article 2 - The Impossibility of Saying No
TITLE:
The impossibility of saying no

SOURCE:
The Economist, a weekly magazine which reports business and economic news, on 18th September 2004

TOPIC DISCUSSED:
The topic discussed by the journalist in her/his article is Turkey's entry in EU, especially the decision of EU to open membership talks to Turkey.

CONTENT:
The article is made up of four sections:
    - ANKARA AND ISTANBUL: Many European governament dislike the idea of Turkey joining the European Union but they are still likely to agree in December to open membership talks
    - Good marks and bad
    - Unwritten criteria
    - The naysayers

in the first part the journalist speaks about the contradictory situatiuon in Turkey. As a matter of fact the writer talks about a tale of two countries, which have as its main cities Istanbul and Ankara, but they are only the two faces of a unique state. In addition to this he/she who describes the evasiveness which European countries have used to postpone Turkey's entry and the "Copenhagen criteria" which Turkish must meet to join EU.
The second sequence of the article explains how the aspects changed last years thanks the reforms adopted by Erdogan government but also underlines its "failings" mand concludes saying that all changes are not enough yet.
The third part of the article focuses on the aspects which come to surface when Europeans speak about Turkey; as a matter of fact in this case the "Copenhagen criteria" are not enough to say yes or no to Turkey. The points in questions are the same analysed by the other journalist in the first article of the magazine (Why Europe must say yes to Turkey): Turkey is a very large country, there is a high level of poverty, not all of it is in Europe and it is Muslim.
The fourth and last sequence illustrate the position of many Member States of EU as regards the problem, especially France, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, and concludes saying that according to the Turkish's point of view what it will be like if Turkey joins EU.

PROBLEM RAISED:
The problem raised by the journalist is the coexistence of two different realities of the country and being one the opposite of the other, the great number of reforms that do not mean great results yet and last but not least, it tells about the difficulty to arrive at a common decision by Member States.

PERSONAL COMMENT:
In my opinion this article has helped me to better understand many aspects of Turkey's entry. I think that it is difficult to make a choice about this debate because there are a lot of unclear points and therefore I think that it will take a long time before Turkey will be admitted to join EU.