Why is the accession of Turkey so important for the European Union?

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, , language: English, abstract: It has been more than fifty years since Turkey applied for European Economic Community (EEC) membership on 31 July 1959 and has been a candidate country since 1999. Nowadays, despite Turkey's efforts to reform their system, is still not a member of the European Union. In order to become a Member of the European Union, Turkey have been reforming their economic and political system. The Accession of Turkey to the European Union will be challenging for both. However, if well managed, this can be a big opportunity for the EU and Turkey.