Turcja – w Europie czy z Europą?

Abstract

European Union decided to open the accession negotiations with Turkey. The next possible enlargement will be much different than previous because Turkey is a “big, poor and Islamic country”. So this opens the question of Union ability to integrate this kind of candidate. The problem might appear at the level of economics, politics and also that of culture. For the country like Poland, the geopolitical matters should be important also. This accession can provoke the transformation of the European Union into the Mediterranean one, this means: the geographical marginalization of north’s members. The entry of Turkey into the EU can also weaken the role of the European identity question changing the Union into economic community only. It is difficult to foresee the results of the necessary process of modernization of the Turkish society. If the negotiations and accession establish the new kind of relations between Europe and Islamic world, helping us to omit the pitfall of the clash of civilizations, this will be with profit for the whole world. If this experiment suffers a reverse, Europe will be its first victim. The opening of the negotiations with Turkey, as we see, is a kind of invitation to the fascinating journey but with one way ticket only.