There should be no doubt even for school students that the Balkans belong to Europe and consequently, that Turkey is as much European as it is Asian. When we come to the terms of the Balkan countries' accession to the European Union, however, there are people still trying to make the Balkans belonging to Europe dubious. They talk about European enlargement or about the process of expansion of Europe to the Balkans and Turkey.
Although some may accuse me of linguistic pedantry, such a simplification more or less has its conscious psychological background in the old Euro-centric view of the world. Whatever came from its southeast, Europe considered troublesome -- not really European -- and distant from the values of the Western world. Thus, if there had not been higher interests, the criteria for EU membership would have been harder when applied to the Balkan countries.
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