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Before you join ... Turkey, and the rest of us, should rethink its accession to the EU.

Article Excerpt
WELL, at least the Belgians are against it. And Hans-Gert Poettering, chairman of the Christian Democrat bloc in the European Parliament. And Durmus Hocaoglu, an associate professor at Istanbul's Marmara University. And, er, me.

Strange bedfellows, Alex!, I hear you all cry. What ever can have persuaded this disparate band to unite? Why, the question of Turkey's becoming a member of the European Union, an issue resurrected in December when the EU decided that negotiations should open later this year. In a decade's time, should the country satisfactorily fulfill the "Copenhagen Criteria"--so becoming a lawful, stable democracy that respects human rights, has a market economy, and adopts the common rules of the EU--Muslim, Middle Eastern Turkey will be officially European. It's a momentous thought. Still, we unmerry few are against it, even if everyone else seems cock-a-hoop over the idea. I'm a new convert, to the con side, having energetically backed Turkey's bid for years. I took another look.

There are four arguments consistently put forward by advocates of Turkish accession. The most often heard is the Ebony-and-Ivory ("li-ving in per-fect har-mo-ny") Ploy. In short, not only does Turkey sit at the "crossroads of civilizations" between the "Christian" and Muslim worlds, it has always been part of Europe thanks to its empire in the Balkans.

Geographically speaking, Turkey does indeed sit at a crossroads, but so what? Since when did geography act as the sole determinant of history? And, further, politics...