Does Turkey Really Want EU Membership?
You might wonder why Turkey has worked so hard over the past decade to meet the qualifications for European Union membership. Even without it, its close ties to Europe seem to mean it’s under a shadow that stretches all the way from Ireland. The Turkish benchmark ISE National 100 Index fell into correction mode this week, dropping 10% from its record high level on November 9 over concerns that Europe’s debt crisis will slow the Turkish economy. The index close of 64,072 is still a 21% increase this year, compared with a 9% gain in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) of 21 developing nations.
