Recitation 14: Debate 3 – Should Turkey be allowed to join the EU?

Reading assignment

Web Unit: Finding a Place in the World: European Union

Recitation overview

This recitation will be devoted to debating the question of Turkey’s future in the European Union

Structure of debate

Team A: opening arguments (10-15 minutes)

Team B: opening arguments (10-15 minutes)

Team A: rebuttals (5 minutes)

Team B: rebuttals (5 minutes)

Questions from the audience (remainder of time)

Debate positions

Team A

The EU will benefit from the economic power of a country the size of Turkey; Turkey is one of the oldest NATO member states; Europe is a multicultural idea and there is room in the definition of “Europeanness” for Islamic societies: Turkey should be allowed to join.

Team B

Democracy is not yet well established in Turkey; there is not a strong free market; human rights abuses continue; the principles of European culture and identity cannot accommodate a large Islamic society like Turkey; the meaning of Europe would become too diluted: Turkey should not be allowed to join.

Resources

The primary resources for this debate include the web-based unit on the European Union (above). You should also look at the web-based unit on An Uprooted World: Guest Workers in Europe, the debate by Sassen and Dearden, and the archived articles on Europe, Culture, and Turkey (TURKEY.pdf). See also pages 161-167 in your textbook.