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If we were comparing European nations with us I'd say the only difference is that we are a muslim nation but we are not "white" or "western" enough so in that sense we are not European.
But aside from that, we ruled the Balkans for almost 550 years and about 30%-40% of Turkish population has roots from the Balkans, their ancessors were settled in those lands for centuries; so those lands were kind of "Turkish" already until we were kicked out from there. In a century where Europeans who ruled a land as a colony for about a decade can put claims on there, this is a bit unfair don't you think...?
But we also have many differences too, we are a muslim country and most of the EU countries are christian and western, just as we have similaties with other Balkan nations, we have many differences too...
So, my points are:
-If you count being European as being western, then we are not European
-We are not a M.Eastern country as many westerners may claim so, if we were christians or not muslims at least; they would've counted the Anatolia as a European land
-If the Caucaus counties are counted as European judt because they are more of a western than we do, then the Anatolia can be caunted as European as well
-If you count being European as having a land at Europe, then S.Cyprus
shouldn't be a EU country, there are many EU lands that are not in Europe.
-You can be a part of EU if you match their idea of "whiteness" or at least promise to be a puppet state and serve their interests
-Not all muslims are Arabs and M.Eastern, we have our roots from the C.Asia
-Joining the EU is like the Sevres Treaty 2.0; we would lose our independence
-They want to steal our EEZ via Greece and S.Cyprus; with that in mind, why would any Turk want to be a part of the EU?
-Most of the Turkish population doesn't have any idea on joining the EU or not actually; at it's highest, 50% of the population wanted to be a part of EU, but that number wouldn't pass 20 percent at best from now on...
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The Europeans and their ideal of being white enough are a joke lmao
But as I've said, we are neither European nor M.Eastern. We have a saying in Turkish, maybe other Turkish members here can find a better translation for others:
"İtin götüne sokmak".
That's what the westerners are trying to do with counting us as M.Eastern. But on the other hand, some Turks are trying to respond this by claiming to be European for not to be counted as M.Eastern, but let me say this:
We are neither both of them.
We are a TransEuropean, EuroAsian country. End of the discussion