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One of the great ironies of the Turkish politics is that Turkey which has a relatively long history of constitutional government and multi-party politics that go back to at least 1908, has held 15 fair and free elections since 1950, is a member of most of the international organizations of market democracies, and is since 2005 negotiating membership with the European Union can still not be considered as a fully consolidated democracy. This paper discusses the main reasons for this irony, and also looks at the dynamics at play, including the accession process to the European Union, which raise the prospect of the consolidation of the democratic regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite well advanced negotiations in the European Union regarding the full Turkish membership recently some powerful European politicians as well as others have expressed reservations about it which came as a shock to many in Europe and beyond. Turkey started negotiations with the EU in 1959 (has been the only non-member country with a customs union) and is still waiting to become a full member. The main argument of the opposing politicians appears to be that Turkey is not really a European country. This paper looks at the history of Europe and Turkey and concludes that the two are inseparably linked. Some politicians see the European Union as a Christian club and thus the spiritual disposition of the Turks appears to be the real problem for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]