Turkey IP News
Is Turkey falling far behind in its membership of the EU? From the many issues that has cropped up, including human rights intellectual property protection, and the ever presence of military involvements, the EU really has its hand full in allowing the entry of Turkey in its fold. It seems entry is a long way off and further delays seem to be in the best interest of the union. Negotiation started in 2005, but progress has been slow. Croatia, who started negotiation at almost the same time, is already at the doorsteps of EU. There is now a stalemate and both parties had sent out signals that further progress will rest on quick improvements in those disputed issues.
The EU views with great concern with the way Turkey is handling free speech, minority rights and also the issue of support for Turkish Cypriots. There seems to be so many issues that are not negotiable. At the top of concern of EU is the security issue. As there is a wide political divide between mainly Christian Europe and Muslim Middle Eastern Countries, the inclusion of Turkey in its fold will compromise its security if there is a major conflict between the two folds. War is always not too far away, especially with an emerging nuclear powered Iran and its stated enemy of Israel. If war were to break out, which side will Turkey stand?
Whichever way the future negotiation goes, it must be noted that Turkey is an important transit route of Central Asian gas sources that the EU will urgently need to secure in view of recent problems from its traditional sources of Russia.