Our World

Turkey & The EU

Turkey has recently been struggling in being accepted into the EU. The reason for this conflict has been the island of Cyprus which is split between Greek inhabitants in the south and Turkish inhabitants in the north. There has been dispute and trade blocks between the sections since 1974 when Turkey invaded the island. The EU has offered to open trade to the Turkish northern half of Cyprus if they would open there ports to the Greeks in the southern half. Turkey has been very stubborn in these negotiations leading to a proposed partial freeze of talks between the EU and Turkey. Yet Turkey has now offered to open one of its major north Cyprus sea ports to the Greek Cypriots. This has encouraged the EU leaders to continue in the negotiations yet many still seek to have all the ports opened. I believe that this move by Turkey shows a desire to negotiate and change in order to be accepted into the EU. Although its not a lot it is still a big move to begin a cooperative attitude between the Turks and Greeks in Cyprus. I believe that eventually this will lead to fully open ports in Cyprus and finally peace and agreement in Cyprus. This is another example of how the EU has become powerful enough to overcome long held grudges and trade blocks and is truly creating a unified Europe.

posted by Anonymous @ 12/07/2006 04:18:00 PM