Turkey was recognised as a candidate for EU membership at the Helsinki Summit in December 1999. But it has taken five years for the country to move onto the runway for possible accession. This will be decided at a meeting of the EU in December this year.
The delay is partly due to factors outside Turkey’s control, most notably the preparation that the EU has had to undertake to admit central and eastern European states this year. But Turkey has also had to demonstrate a willingness to restructure its political and economic institutions into a form acceptable to the EU. Observers say that the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which took power in 2002, is more eager and determined than any previous administration to force through the necessary changes.
