Turkey is a beautiful country in Western Asia. It is known for the city of Istanbul, the largest city, located on the border between two components. Although Turkey maintains close relations with European countries and also joins the European Union Customs Union, it is not a member of the European Union (EU). Turkey started joining the EU since the 1960s, but it is still not a member. In 2004, the EU announced that Turkey was officially a candidate for membership and began negotiations. Why does it take so long to be accepted? According to the EU enlargement strategy, a candidate country must fulfill the Copenhagen criteria and then begin the negotiation process. After fulfilling all these conditions, he obtains member status. In my opinion, Turkey should be allowed to join the EU because it can meet the Copenhagen criteria which are democratic value, market economy and compliance with the objectives of EU regulations. Furthermore, negotiations with the EU have already started. Before arguing why Turkey should join the EU, I would like to present the reasons why people oppose it or what are the possible counterarguments to it. Since Turkey is a Muslim country, many people doubt its democracy and think that Turkey cannot be compatible with Western countries. But having a Muslim religion does not mean that it is not democratic. Turkey's attempt to be secular rather than conservative did not succeed until 2002. When the Justice and Development Party (in Turkish, AKP) won elections in 2002, it successfully began to reform the laws and the legal system. As a result, Turkey gained its official candidate status in 2004. Turkey gave women the political right even before some Europe...... middle of paper ......ec. 2013. Print. Elver, Hilal. “Reluctant partners: Turkey and the European Union”. Middle East Report 235. Summer (2005): 24-29. Print. Hoekman, Bernard M. and Togan Subidey. Türkiye: economic reform and accession to the European Union. Herndon, VA, USA: World Bank Publications. 2005. Print. Kharpal, Arjun. “Turkey eager to marry with Europe”. 25 CNBC. CNBC SARL. November 5, 2013. The web. April 25, 2014. Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Economy. “Economic Outlook”. Ankara: Turkish Ministry of Economy. March 2014. The web. www.economy.gov.tr.---, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The 2013 Turkey Progress Report and Enlargement Strategy Paper. By the European Commission. Brussels: The European Union. October 16, 2013. Print. No. 278. Toktas, Sule and Aras, Bulent. “The EU and minority rights in Türkiye”. Political Science Quarterly. 124:4 Winter (2009-2010): 697-720. Print.