Sureyya Serdengecti: 'Turkish membership would increase EU global power'

From a lecture by the governor of the Central Bank of Turkey, delivered at the London School of Economics

Considering the main principles of the EU and Turkey's desire to reach the contemporary level of civilisation, Turkey's everlasting willingness to be a member of the EU shouldn't be surprising. The eventual membership will depend on a lot of factors, political and economic. But whatever the outcome, the whole process will involve serious political, legal and economic reforms that we have to do for ourselves anyway in Turkey.

In recent decades, increasing numbers of countries have been integrating into the world economy and politics, so the world is going through a rapid alteration. This change brings abut new challenges in the international arena that even industrialised countries have difficulties coping with. I believe that the notion of enlargement provides a means for the EU to increase its power both in political and economic environments in the world and to face challenges in the international area as a global power.

It is apparent that there are very strong arguments in favour of Turkish membership, such as that Turkey will bring the Islamic world and the Western world together, or a larger EU with Turkey will certainly be a much bigger power playing an important role in the world.

EU enlargement with Turkey will be very different from previous enlargements in the sense that Turkey is not similar to the other countries in its dynamics, including economic, demographic and political ones. However, a closer look at the enlargement periods of the new members reveals both debates and concerns. But when we look at the results, we see a win-win situation for both the EU and the new member states.