Европейските граници: стремежи и съмнения (Турция и Европейският съюз)
European Borders: Aspirations and Doubts (Turkey and the European Union)

Summary/Abstract: This article discusses the matters related to the challenges of European expansion and, primarily, to the controversial application of Turkey for EU membership. Although this membership was given the „green light“, it causes serious debate in European political circles, as well as in public opinion which does not equivocally welcome the probability of a Muslim, albeit secular and undergoing Europeisation, state to become part of the „common European home“. On the one hand, Turkey’s application even more persistently poses the question of the borders of expanding Europe — whether they are geographical, cultural and historical, civilizational or „shifting“ — as well as whether the continent will succeed in preserving its identity, based on historically formed „landmarks“ like the Graeco-Roman origin, Christian affiliation, Renaissance culture and the ideas of Enlightenment. In other words, the fundamental things Turkey has „missed“ in its historical development and has been trying to „catch up“ for 200 years in the process of its continued cultural transformation — Europeisation of institutions, culture, political thinking and political life and, last but not least, of the human individual. On the other hand, the question whether Turkey is a European country is becoming a key issue, which Turkey itself should first resolve for itself, particularly in front of the threshold of the European Union which more or less denies it this identity. Discussions about its identity and its place in Europe are ongoing in Turkey. The article presents the various points of view of the politically and intellectually varied and conflicting circles in contemporary Turkey. The translations attached to the article are intended to illustrate the debate about the extent to which Turkey today is European and, in perspective, to what extent European cultural borders are „movable“.

• Details
• Contents