INTRODUCTION
To become the member of the European Union (EU) constitutes one of the main long lasting political objectives of Turkey since independence (Isiksal, 2005). For instance, the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, emphasised upon the significance of Europe for Turkey’s future and modernisation. For this purpose, the modern Turkey made fundamental amendments such as abolition of the religious Khalifa institution, foundation of the Western style education system, and replacement of the Arabic alphabet with the Latin alphabet. In consequence, Turkey is able to become the only democratic and secular state within the Muslim world.
In order to maintain further and consolidate this political objective and preference, Turkey became the member of the West European based organisations such as the Council of Europe in 1949, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 1952. As a complementary attempt in this vein, Turkey applied to the European Economic Community (EEC) for membership (following the application of Greece) in 1959. The most prominent and remarkable result of these aforementioned efforts was the initiation of full membership negotiations with the EU on September 4, 2005.
There is little doubt that the EU is the most successful union among the societies of states. EU membership is highly desirable since it promotes fundamental changes in socio-economic and political life. As a result of this transformation, the societies are expected to become more integrated, more prosperous, more autonomous and more democratic in addition to the highest achievements in terms of human rights.