EU Essay Correction - Why Turkey should be admitted to the EU

Correction

Why Turkey should be admitted to the EU

54 years have passed since Turkey first applied for a membership of the European Union. In those years Turkey has made significant progress concerning human rights and contributed to the EU’s military force. Moreover, from a geopolitical point of view the country is of high importance to the EU. Stretching over two continents, Turkey is not only the link between Europe and Asia but also the bridge between the western and Islamic worlds. In economic terms Turkey’s accession would add an additional 75 million potential buyers to the EU market. Nevertheless, it is the high population figure which is a major reason as to why the EU is indecisive about admitting Turkey. The EU’s internal structure and power balance would change completely as Turkey would become the largest decision-maker after Germany. Additionally, the Christian-dominated Union would have to conceive a strategy to successfully integrate an Islamic country. Needless to say, the decision at hand is not an easy one, but with advancing globalization, the EU should contemplate whether leaving the doors shut for Turkey is a good option.

First of all, Turkey’s accession would bear many advantages from a military perspective. The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), which consist of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. The TAF is a member of the NATO, under which it has stationed 1,035 troops in Kabul, Afghanistan where Turkey showed loyalty and commitment to the “Western World”. Apart from being a member of NATO, Turkey holds leadership of the Black Sea Naval Force of which Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia are also members. Together with Romania and Italy, Turkey comprises the Italian-Romanian-Turkish EU Battlegroup, which is under the control of the Council of the European Union. In addition to that, Turkey contributes to the Eurocorps, a standing army corps headquartered in Strasbourg. Therefore, Turkey’s relationship to the EU, at least on a military level, is already quite  strong and might foster bonds in other areas as well.

With regards to human rights, Turkey is definitely heading in the right direction. By having adapted the “Accession Partnership Document of the EU” and the “National Program for the Adoption of the EU Acquis” as principles, Turkey has made noticeable progress in developing human rights within its borders. To raise the consciousness of individual’s rights courses such as “Democracy and Human Rights” are being offered in high schools, universities and police academies. Additionally, new laws on protection of the family and prevention of violence against women were passed in March and the death sentence has been replaced by aggravated life imprisonment, whereas example countries such as the United States and Japan still use capital punishment. Despite these developments, Turkey still suffers from deficiencies in its justice system, freedom of speech and the protection of LGBT rights. Turkey is still very optimistic about solving these issues with a step by step approach.

The EU’s economy could benefit greatly from accession of Turkey. With an average economic growth of 7% in the first decade of the 21^th century, Turkey's economy has been thriving. This shows a very good reason as to why the European Union should have an interest in integrating the Turkish market. Another reason is the sheer size of market. If Turkey were admitted to the EU, an additional 75 million potential buyers would increase the demand for EU products significantly. The large population of Turkey could also be a source of young skilled workers. The age factor is also crucial as aging population of Europe will soon be in dire need of a younger workforce. Nevertheless, some economists oppose the accession of Turkey stating that the country’s GDP is quite low. In fact, it is less than half of the EU average. However, this argument becomes invalid when focused on Romania and Bulgaria because these countries have a very low GDP as well.

Even though the discussion about whether Turkey should join the European Union or not has been omnipresent for decades, the country made remarkable progress towards being accessed to the EU. Turkey being denied an accession would be a disastrous signal that would endanger the strong bond between Turkey and the EU. Financially, the European Union would only benefit from an accession, especially when taking into consideration that Turkey offers a vast amount of young laborers compared to the aging workforce of Europe. Furthermore, for most EU members the country is not an unknown ally. Turkey already cooperates with many business member states. Concerning military force, Turkey shares a strong bond with EU member countries, such as Italy, Romania and Bulgaria. Regarding the task force in Afghanistan Turkey demonstrated its loyalty too. If the European Union decides to unite its power with Turkey, it would become a non-competitive world power.

Vocabulary Notebook..

In high school we only had these two-columns-notebook for English vocabulary. One column for English and one for German. When I started studying it became four: English word, example sentence, synonyms and description. That way I learned the vocabulary effectively.

For SUK3, I had the same method. But I mostly used Vocabulary from Henry’s class. I noted down words, such as corporate debt, malign effect, palatable etc. Whereas for Hendrik’s class (PART I) I printed out the vocabulary lists from vocabulary.com and wrote all I had to know about this vocab to each word.

This semester, I’ve learned much more vocabulary than my entire study, I guess. So, I would say, it’s been a pretty filled semester. J

Pronunciation Diary

Oh my dear American accent, can’t tell you how much I miss you.

Before I started studying at the ITAT, I had an American accent. People I met in London asked me if I was from Jersey or so. And now, all I can say about my accent is: “Dude, it’s all over place”. When I talk with Anna, I realize that I talk more in a British accent and if I talk with my American friends, I feel like talking in an American accent. THAT’S A PROBLEM! And I want to solve that as soon as I can.

I talked to Hendrik about it, what he thinks about my accent. “It’s more American, but don’t bother yourself, keep on practicing your pronunciation.” That’s when I realized that having an accent is not the same as having a good pronunciation. So, I worked on it!

And I found out, that …

·         I never pronounce the end of the words,

·         that my ‘I’ sounds like an ‘a’ and

·         that I have the typical German pronunciation mistake ‘t’ or ‘d’.

I really love doing pronunciation exercises. Every time Hendrik asks someone to read out something, I am the first who puts her hand up! I hope I have improved since Hendrik pointed out my mistakes.

My Pecha Kucha Experience...

Pecha Kucha Experience

My experiences with Pecha Kucha… Well, our topic was “European Day of Languages”. I learned a lot while researching for this topic:

·         how Europe promotes languages

·         how important minority languages are for Europe

·         and how desperately Europe tries to protect its culture

We have talked about all these at our presentation and, to be honest, all these information won’t be that useful in the future. But there is one thing, that I’ve learned during preparing this presentation and that I will always carry with me my whole life: team work with a stranger. My partner is not an easy person, I’ve told him that as well. And I know that I’m not an easy person. I mean, how can someone with an Aries zodiac sign be easy? Ce n’est pas possible, mon chéri. So, I want to talk about my experience in working with a stranger as a team.

My presentation partner chose our topic and I was not sure if it was the right one. I didn’t think that we could find enough sources for our presentation first but he was really enthusiastic about it and that was the first time I trusted someone’s gut feelings and I agreed.

After creating a shared Google-Doc, we started working on it. Somehow after two weeks, none of us had done anything. I knew that he was blaming on me that I hadn’t done anything, because I was doing the same. However, we agreed on meeting at my place and working on it. I think it was the day before the deadline. The night before, thanks to my guilt monster in me, I worked on our presentation. I found some useful sources, surveys etc. and finished up 13 slides.

When my presentation partner arrived, he had a really bitter face expression. I could see how mad he was that we still had not worked on anything. After I told him that I finished some slides, he started smiling. The real work was still ahead of us. He suggested something and I disagreed and I suggested something and he disagreed. I started getting frustrated first, but after calming down with cigarettes it all worked out – somehow. I realized that we had this language barrier between us. He could never explain it to me fully what he suggested and vice versa. So, we mostly illustrated our suggestions with examples and after that, it worked out pretty well.

During recording, there was this tension again. He always corrected my pronunciation and I did the same. Somehow, we finished it and we were also at the end of our nerves. Couple days later, I did the power point presentation without even asking him. After explaining our “chemistry” you know why.

When I look back now, it was a great experience working with someone like my partner. I learned how to work with people you don’t know and still achieve a satisfying result. 

Before/After Post on Summary

Comment

My first summary was a bad one. But, isn’t this the thing about firsts? They should be bad so that you can learn from your mistakes? Henry’s suggestion was to learn when to use the articles. It’s not easy for a Turkish girl to learn the articles. I’ve been told to use them in German – before every noun and the right article (as there are 100 articles, at least I feel like there are 100 articles in German)! To be honest, I had a bad feeling about summaries first but I feel like I’ve learned from my mistakes and I’m more confident when I write a summary now. 

First Version 

In his article in Telegraph from the 23rd October 2013 Ambrose Evans Pritchard analyses the deflation within Europe.

At the beginning he illustrates the European deflation by using a comparison to the Japanese deflation. Deflation means no economical growth which is be a positive case if the country is not be in debt but due to the European Debt Crisis, a deflation would cause a bigger problem than assumed for Europe. Not only national debts would be impossible to pay off but also private debts would be affected badly by this.

According to Ambrose Evans Pritched’s suggests an increase of inflation within Europe, but Germany resists against such a policy as their economy is in good condition in the short term. In the long run this unsolved problem will also affect Germany’s economy. To carry out this kind of an inflation policy Club Med partners should ally against Germany and force the country to accept inflation.

Another solution could be the attempt to cut spending, which is a highly unpopular process for the population.

In brief, Europe is hoping for a miracle to occur that solves the European deflation and saves them from falling into a deeper crisis.

Corrected Version

In his article in Telegraph from the 23rd October 2013 Ambrose Evans-Pritchard analyses the deflation within Europe.

In the beginning he illustrates European deflation by using a comparison to Japan. Deflation means no economical growth which is be a positive case if the country is not be in debt but due to European debt crisis, deflation would cause a bigger problem than assumed for Europe. Not only national debts would be impossible to pay off but also private debts would be affected badly by this.

Another solution could be the attempt to cut spending, which is a highly unpopular process for the population.

Evans-Pritchard suggests an increase of inflation within Europe, but Germany resists such a policy as their economy is in good condition in the short term. In the long run this unsolved problem will also affect Germany’s economy. To carry out this kind of an inflation policy Club Med partners should ally against Germany and force the country to accept inflation.

In brief, Europe is hoping for a miracle to occur that solves the European deflation and saves them from falling into a deeper crisis.