Economic collapse of European states like Greece has rebound the conventional question: Why is Turkey still out of the European Union? The question becomes more pertinent when in the times of recent global economic crisis; Turkey registered the highest development ratio after China last year.

Diplomats at the European Commission in Brussels may never run out of excuses for delaying Turkey’s entry in the EU. The very admission of new members such as Hungary and Bulgaria have little to show off compared to politically stable, prosperous Turkey.

The answer to delay in Turkey’s EU membership lies in social reservation that dominates the European approach now. The social reservation, including cultural, religious and other non-material factors, troubles the usual ways of politics within the EU.

First of all, the EU as a polity still needs to overcome its historical understanding of 'otherness'. The success of the Europe in realizing complex institutional infrastructure should be repeated at the cultural level too. Ironically, institutionalized European politics fails when it comes to setting norms. Hence, the Europeans repeat their historical reflexes, which reject incorporating newcomers for inherently not being transnational.

Unfortunately, the impression of otherness towards Muslims, Turks and immigrants is still strong on the European political mindset. Even in strong European democracies like Germany, Muslim Turks lack basic democratic rights such as citizenship and democratic participation. As a consequence, the EU still lacks a higher standard of norm system to incorporate 'other'.

Secondly, as a more paradoxical fact, ultra-secularization of the European social life has almost paralyzed the historical link between Islam and Christianity as two Abrahamic traditions coexisting on the continent. Thus, more than Christianity, it is the ultra secular, if not atheistic, aspect of the European politics that should be blamed for the EU failure in assuming a soft power role towards the Muslims. Actually, two opposite trends coincide in Turkey and the EU. While religion is on the rise in Turkey, the European countries are headed the other way.

Finally, the rise of ultra-nationalism can be listed as the third negative aspect behind negative stereotypes towards Turkey. Unlike the 90s, the European political elite represent center-right ideologies all over the continent. The countries like the Netherlands, which were presented as the arch-symbols of tolerance in the 90s, have gone through dramatic changes so far, thus becoming breeding grounds of extreme right parties.

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