Both NATO and the EUROPEAN Union are Western organizations. Let's first look at the concept of the "Western world", also known as the Western world, mainly referring to the countries of Europe, North America and Australia and New Zealand. European Union countries, North America Canada and the United States, Oceania Australia and New Zealand are generally considered Western countries, in Europe, such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Andorra and other countries that do not belong to the European Union are also considered to belong to Western countries. Canada and the United States in North America, Australia and New Zealand in Oceania, the four countries, European descent accounted for the majority, European culture is the main color of the above countries, on the basis of European culture, these four countries have formed some characteristic cultures.
Nato
Western culture is rooted in Greek civilization and ancient Roman civilization, and Western culture is the product of the long-term historical activities of the people of Western Europe and North America. The European Union is a political and economic union formed by a number of European countries. In 1952, including France, West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy six countries composed of the European Coal and Steel Community was formally established, in 1965, the six countries decided to merge the atomic energy community, the economic community and the coal and steel community these three organizations, collectively known as the European Community, after which there are continuous European countries to join the European Community, in 1993, the European Union was established, the three Major European Communities were incorporated into the European Union, after the establishment of the European Union, there are also European countries have joined the European Union, until 2020, The European Union has a total of 27 member states.
European Union
In order to target the Eastern European bloc led by the Soviet Union, in 1949, at the initiative of the United States, the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Denmark, Iceland, and Italy signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C., and NATO was established. In 1952, Turkey and Greece joined NATO, in 1955 West Germany joined NATO, and in 1982, Spain joined NATO. In 1955, the Warsaw Pact, led by the Soviet Union, was established, and since then, nato and the Warsaw Pact have fiercely confronted each other. In 1991, the Warsaw Pact was dissolved. Since then, NATO has continued to expand eastward, and the number of member states has increased sharply, with a total of 30 NATO members by 2021. In terms of member states, the overlap between the EU and NATO is very high. Of the current 27 member states of the European Union, 21 are also members of NATO.
NATO and the Warsaw Pact
In 1952, Turkey joined NATO. However, Turkey has not yet succeeded in joining the EU. In 1963, Turkey expressed the idea of joining the European Community, and in that year it became an associated country of the European Community, and in 1987, Turkey applied for membership in the European Community. In 1999, Turkey became a candidate for the European Union. In 2005, Turkey and the European Union began to negotiate accession, and then, basically gone, and then, after so many years, basically lost the following.
Turkey
As the two major organizations of Western countries, the EUROPEAN Union and NATO, why is it so easy for Turkey to join NATO and so difficult to join the EU? The first part is why Turkey joined NATO easily. I think the reasons may be as follows. First, this is related to the nature of the EU and NATO, the degree of integration, and other factors. The EU is a joint economic and political organization of European countries, the EU is highly integrated, the EU has its own "legislature" (European Parliament, etc.), "executive body" (European Commission) and "judiciary" (European Court of Justice), as well as the European Central Bank and other institutions. Currently, the 19 member states of the European Union use a unified currency, the euro. NATO is a military alliance, compared to the European Union, NATO's organizational structure is relatively simple, the function is also single, that is, a defensive alliance. As far as NATO is concerned, there are fewer factors that may be measured when admitting Turkey, and as the EU, there are more factors that may be measured and scrupulous when admitting Turkey.
Turkish Straits
Bosporus
Second, Turkey is of great value to NATO. Whether it was during the Cold War when NATO was in fierce confrontation with the Warsaw Pact, or now, the Turkish Strait (Black Sea Strait) controlled by Turkey is of great strategic importance to NATO. Both sides of the Turkish Strait are Turkish territory, the Turkish Strait is the only natural passage connecting the Black Sea with the outside Mediterranean Sea, and there are six countries on the Black Sea coast, namely Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Russia. Although the Straits of Turkey belong to Turkey, the Straits of Turkey are also bound by the Montreux Convention, and even under this Convention Turkey enjoys the right to administer the Straits of Turkey.
In addition, the Turks are also a fighting nation, anxious, no matter what convention you do not convention, once the strait is blocked, the Black Sea will directly become an "inner lake". Therefore, the five black sea countries other than Turkey still have to give Turkey a little face in many things.
Turkish women's soccer team
Not only the countries bordering the Black Sea, but also many landlocked European countries have to give Turkey a little face. The Danube, the second longest river in Europe, flows through several European countries before finally flowing into the Black Sea. The Danube River can be called the main artery of inland waterway transportation in Europe, and there are more than 100 docks along the Danube River, of which Vienna, the capital of Austria, Budapest, the capital of Hungary, Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, are all important port cities along the coast. For landlocked countries along the Danube, the Turkish Strait is also an important passageway for their cargo to sail to the sea.
Danube
Of course, Westerners know the importance of this Turkish Strait, and they also wanted to get this Turkish Strait in their hands, but unfortunately they did not get it later. After World War I (1914-1918), the Ottoman Turkish Empire belonged to the defeated countries, and after World War I, the Ottoman Empire was further "dismembered" by the Entente group such as Britain and France. According to the Treaty of Sèvres signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Entente in 1920, the European part of Turkey (Eastern Thrace) was to be ceded to Greece, and the Turkish Strait and the areas on both sides were to become demilitarized zones, which were administered by the Straits Management Committee composed of six countries, including Britain, France, and the United States. Later, under Mustafa Kemal' leadership, the Turkish War of Independence broke out and Turkey won, preserving its Asian headquarters and the eastern part of Thracia in Europe, replacing the Treaty of Sèvres with the Treaty of Lausanne.
Treaty of Sèvres
The second part, the difficulties of Turkey's accession to the European Union. Unlike NATO, which spans Europe and the United States, the EU's main scope is still basically in Europe. I think it is not too important whether Turkey is a "European country" or an "Asian country", the key depends on how much "European characteristics" Turkey has, and the more "European characteristics" it has, the more favorable it is. Turkey should consider itself a European country, Turkey is a member of the European Olympic Committee, in football, Turkey is a member of the Union of European Football Associations, and in basketball, Turkey is a member of the European Basketball Association.
Some people may think that Turkey is "very thick-skinned", as an Asian country has to dress itself up as a European country, in fact, this is really a bit of a wrong person Turkey, saying that Turkey is a European country is actually no problem. Geographically, Turkey is trans-Eurasian, with its Asian part (Anatolia) accounting for about 97% of its land area and its European part (Eastern Thrace) accounting for about 3% of its land area. Regardless of the size of its European part, there is, and in the political, economic and other fields, Turkey has practiced the European model, and in addition, historically, Turkey has also had close ties with Europe.
In fact, the Turkish Strait is also very important to the EU, but why has the EU not accepted Turkey so far? I think there may be the following difficulties. First, culturally and religiously. Although in the political, economic and other fields, Turkey has adopted a European model. Religiously, however, turkey is an authentic Middle Eastern country, predominantly Islam. European countries are predominantly Christian, whether Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox, all belong to Christianity. It can be said that culturally, Turkey is significantly different from the EU.
European religious distribution
Second, historical psychological factors. The Ottoman Turkish Empire (Turkish Empire of 1299-1923) also dominated the Mediterranean. The Turks were originally a small Turkic tribe under the Turkic Sultanate of Roma, to which the Turkic Seljuk dynasty belonged. In 1299, taking advantage of the decline of the Sultanate of Roma, the Turks established the Ottoman State. Since then, the Ottoman state has gradually become stronger and larger. During the reign of Ottoman Suleiman the Great in the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire grew stronger, and by the 17th century, the Ottoman navy was "walking sideways" in the Mediterranean.
The extent of early Turkey
At the height of its power, the Ottoman Empire, which encompassed most of the Balkans, the Middle East, and North Africa, dominated Eurasia and Africa, and once frightened Europeans. After the rise of the Ottoman Empire, many parts of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe were now ruled by the Ottoman Empire, and in the Battle of Nico fort in 1396, the Ottoman army defeated the European coalition of Germany, France, Hungary and other countries at that time, and occupied most of the European Balkan Peninsula.
Ottoman Empire
Later, the Ottoman Empire gradually declined, and the Ottoman Empire became the target of encroachment and attack by Western powers. Other peoples in the Ottoman Empire became independent, with Greece declaring independence in 1821 and Serbia, Montenegro, and Wallachia declaring independence in 1875. The Ottoman Empire was gradually dismembered by the Western powers, and after World War I, even the headquarters of the Ottoman Empire was almost dismembered by the Western powers. Nevertheless, I think that to this day, European countries, especially those in the Balkans of Europe, which were once ruled by the Ottoman Empire, still have a certain "psychological shadow" on Turkey.
Third, Turkey's strength. For comparison, look at France and Germany, the two core members of the European Union. Mainland France in Europe covers an area of about 550,000 square kilometers (excluding its overseas territories), and by 2021, the total population of France is about 65 million. In 2020, France is the seventh largest economy in the world with a strong industrial and agricultural base. In the European Union, France has a strong military and is currently the fourth largest nuclear-armed country in the world. Looking at Germany, the area of Germany is about 357,000 square kilometers, and by 2020, the german population is about 83 million. As of 2020, Germany is the fourth largest economy in the world and the largest in Europe. Germany is militarily more dependent on NATO.
Look again at Turkey. Turkey has an area of about 780,000 square kilometers and has a population of about 83 million by 2020. Economically, the gap between Turkey and Germany and France is clear and huge, with Turkey being the 16th largest economy in the world at purchasing power parity and 65th in terms of GDP per capita at purchasing power parity. However, Turkey's military strength is outstanding, Turkey has a large number of military and police personnel, within NATO, the Turkish army is nato's second largest permanent force, after the UNITED Army. Excluding Israel, Turkey is considered the strongest military force in the Middle East.
So, once Turkey joins the European Union, will Turkey lead France and Germany? Or will France and Germany lead Turkey? Also, are many other EU countries subservient to Turkey? In addition, citizens of countries within the EU can move, live and work freely within the EU, due to the economic attractiveness of the developed countries of the EU, if Turkey joins the EU, it will have to face the free movement of more than 80 million Turkish Muslims within the EU, which is obviously difficult to accept in the EU, which is currently basically Christian.
The territory of Greece changed from 1832 to 1947
Fourth, the relations between EU member States Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. First of all, Greece is quite comfortable with the history of the Ottoman Empire in the past when Greece ruled Greece, and Turkey is obviously very disgusted by the fact that most of the islands in the Aegean Sea belong to Greece, some of which are close to Turkey and far from Greece, but belong to Greece.
Athens
In addition, there is Cyprus. In 1571, the Ottoman Empire occupied Cyprus, and in 1878 Cyprus was ceded to The British. In 1960, Cyprus became independent. Subsequently, the main ethnic group in Cyprus, the Greek Community, and the main ethnic minority, the Turkish Community, were in constant conflict. In 1974, the Greek military clique staged a coup d'état in Cyprus, and Turkey, in the name of the "Guarantor Power", sent troops to the large island of Cyprus, occupying 37% of the northern part of the island, and all the Turkish community on the island moved north. Later, the Greeks in the north of the island moved south. Since then, Cyprus has seen a north-south divide. Later, in 1983, the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" was established in the northern part of the island. In 2004, the Republic of Cyprus (a Greek region) joined the European Union separately. Even if Turkey succeeds in its negotiations with the EU, which will require the approval of the EU member states, and the approval of all EU member states, will Greece and Cyprus agree?
Greece and Turkey
If Turkey had more European characteristics, the contradictions with Greece and Cyprus were not so serious, or if Turkey's "size" was not large and a small country, it would obviously be much easier in the above case. Therefore, at present, if Turkey wants to join the Eu, the dream component is mostly, turkey seems to have long been aware of this, and the current enthusiasm for joining the EU is not as high as before.