The EU has been negotiating with Turkey about EU membership since 2005. For this to happen, Turkey must adapt its legislation and administrative systems to come in line with EU regulations (which include the Copenhagen criteria) in many areas to guarantee democracy, law and order and human rights.
While Sweden is strongly in favour of Turkish EU membership, some other EU countries are more hesitant. Many are particularly concerned about a major Islamic country becoming a member. Some fear the effects of Turkey’s large population (about 73 million) on job opportunities and that its major development requirements will be a financial burden on the EU.
The Swedish government believes that approaching the EU is the best way to expand the country’s democracy and combat poverty.
Sweden has broad-ranging contacts with Turkey. Almost 100,000 people with a Turkish background live in Sweden. Ten thousand Swedish citizens live in Turkey and every year 400,000 Swedes visit the country.
Discrimination against women
Turkey has a large and strong economy, strategically placed between East and West. There has been fast growth in recent years, but there is still a big divide between rich and poor.
About 20 per cent of the population are regarded as poor, even though few are very poor. The poor people live mainly in rural areas in eastern Turkey, which is where the main minority group, the Kurds, live. There are also Kurds in the major cities. Even though there has been an improvement in women’s rights, there are still many women in some regions who cannot read or write. The number of girls going to school is increasing, but only half of the girls attend school in some areas.
EU the biggest donor
The overall development assistance to Turkey forms a very limited part of the country’s GDP and is mainly centred on the country adapting to EU guidelines, democracy work, equality and improving discriminated groups’ human rights and socioeconomic situation. The EU’s financial contribution was about EUR 600 million in 2009.
UN organizations, such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), are implementing co-operational programmes around the areas of democracy, poverty, the environment and women’s rights.
Sweden has been supplying limited development assistance to Turkey since 1992. The aim of Sweden’s work is to:
- improve the democratization process and respect for human rights and contribute to the country’s approach to the EU.
