(Download) "Compatibility of "Islam" and "Europe": Turkey's EU Accession (Report)" by Insight Turkey * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Compatibility of "Islam" and "Europe": Turkey's EU Accession (Report)
- Author : Insight Turkey
- Release Date : January 01, 2009
- Genre: Politics & Current Events,Books,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 90 KB
Description
Despite objections from Austria, in October 2004, the EU commission issued an encouraging report on Turkey's EU eligibility. Nevertheless, at this crucial turning point in Turkey's bid for EU membership, Frits Bolkestein, the EU's internal market commissioner, expressed his concern that Europe would be Islamic by the end of this century, quoting remarks by historian Bernard Lewis. He said: "I don't know if it will take this course but, if he's right, the liberation of Vienna [from the Ottoman Turks] in 1683 would have been in vain." (1) While the commissioner had a range of economic, political, and strategic reasons at his disposal with which to disapprove of Turkey's EU membership, he chose instead to use an essentialist approach, referring to an historical event that happened more than three centuries ago in order to reify "Europe" and "Islam" as incompatible and inherently antagonistic entities. There are pro and con arguments concerning the cultural aspect of Turkey's EU membership. Supporters argue that Turkey's membership as a Muslim-majority country will mitigate fears of a "clash of civilizations." Critics, such as political scientist Samuel Huntington, believe that Turkey is a secular country, isolated in the Muslim world, and incapable of playing any bridging role. Moreover, critics argue that Europe's Muslim immigrants cannot integrate because Islam is inassimilable and therefore a threat to a "European identity" which they view as historically based on Christianity. For evidence, they point to the alleged failure of Muslim immigrants in Europe to integrate culturally.
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