Should Turkey join the EU?

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The EU and Turkey have struck a deal over a demand that Turkey recognise Cyprus before it begins talks on membership. European and Turkish diplomats said a compromise had been reached in which Turkey promises to recognise Cyprus by next October's start date for negotiations. Some countries are worried that Turkey's large and rapidly growing population and low average income might make integration into the EU difficult. Other opponents are concerned about Turkey's human rights record, despite reforms it has recently enacted.

Do you think Turkey should join the EU? Can Turkey act as a diplomatic bridge between Europe and the Middle East? Send us your views.

I suppose that Turkey should be an EU member - this step should prevent them from drift towards Asia. As a Polish citizen, I am the recent member of EU. We should realize that rejecting Turkey aspirations would result in isolation and growing frustration. So I am for their admission, but I agree that there must not be any compromises regarding Cyprus. There is a big challenge ahead of EU - how to place Turkey into a political and social framework of Common Europe. (Bartek, Warsaw, Poland) Definitely yes but without losing dignity! The best place an economically stable Turk could ever live in is his homeland, not a French, English or a German urban area in which he will feel like a foreigner even if he is 100% European by the laws of the EU. So the migration of Turks from Turkey to Europe in the long run will not be a valid case. While we stabilize economically by steps taken towards EU, we have a lot to offer to the EU, young works force if needed, bright brains, a secure bridge between west and east and a role model proving east can meet west peacefully. Which other candidate country can serve this many purposes? (Gulin Saylan Seymen, Istanbul) No Turkey should not enter the EU. How do you accept the wolf among the lambs? (Raffi, Iraq) The EU has first got to complete the union with the existing members: a new state, so different from the others, will result in a disaster for the whole union (Massimo Sereno, Ivrea, Italy)...

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