Why the EU should prepare for and welcome Turkish membership

Later this week, the European Union faces a historic decision on Turkey. On Friday, the European Council will decide whether to open negotiations with Turkey for EU membership.

The decision is of enormous significance, not just for Turkey, but for the EU, its member states and the whole region. In giving Turkey the green light to open negotiations, we can set Turkey's future firmly in the EU. The prospect of future membership will help embed and advance the momentum of reform in Turkey and harness closer cooperation between the EU and Turkey on a range of issues central to Europe's interests.

The decision on Friday is not about whether Turkey is ready to join the EU tomorrow. The EU and the Turkish government are both agreed that negotiations will take many years. But we must be clear that, if Turkey meets the criteria for membership, the prospect of accession remains open.

Is Turkey eligible to join the EU? The answer is yes. An Association Agreement with the European Union was negotiated as long ago as 1963, paving the way for Turkey to establish an even closer relationship with the Union. The United Kingdom was 10 long years away from EU accession then; but we have been members now for 31 years. In 1999 the Helsinki European Council declared that "Turkey is a candidate state destined to join the Union on the basis of the same criteria as applied to the other candidate states".

The EU has laid down a clear path to membership for Turkey. It would be immensely damaging to our credibility and to the progress of reform in Turkey if we raised the bar just as the candidate meets the standards asked of it.

Has Turkey changed? Yes. The Commission's positive assessment two months ago that Turkey fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria was fully deserved. Turkey has undergone a fundamental and very demanding transformation over the past five years for which the Turkish government and people deserve enormous credit. The death penalty has been abolished. Civilian political control of the armed forces is entrenched in legislation. Cultural pluralism is spreading with the broadcast and teaching of languages other than Turkish - including Kurdish. Non-governmental organisations are consulted in the legislative process and in human rights monitoring bodies.

These revolutionary changes require thorough and determined implementation. But the government of Turkey is committed to doing so. And the prospect of EU accession has become the chosen vehicle for modernising and reformist business leaders, politicians, intellectuals and opinion-formers in Turkey. They see a historic opportunity to modernise Turkey to match the achievement of a secular, republican nation-state, which Kemal Ataturk shaped from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.

The prospect of Turkey in the EU is highly significant for the EU's relations with the Islamic world. A functioning democracy in a country secular in politics, but Muslim in faith, would be a powerful demonstration that there is no "clash of civilisations", that the EU is not a Christian club and that religious tolerance and integration are an essential part of European life. Europe needs to be inclusive. Chris Patten, then the EU Commissioner for External Relations, said in May this year: "We need to open the debate, recognising that the beginning of negotiations with Turkey, whatever the uncertainty of the outcome, would lead to a very different Turkey and very different relations between Europe and the Islamic World". I agree.

The European Union today benefits hugely from its diversity. Turkey's accession will enhance that greatly. The EU should embrace this democracy which stands at the crossroads of continents and cultures. A stable, democratic Turkey anchored in the EU would make an enormous contribution to our mutual security. A positive decision by the EU this week will sustain the momentum for reform in Turkey, entrenching the rule of law and respect for human rights. This holds out the prospect of lasting internal stability. And that will not just be good for Turkey - but good for us all.

Recent events have shown all too painfully that Europe cannot maintain its security by pulling up the drawbridge. We need to export stability to the region. Turkey is a key partner in achieving this. Let us make the positive choice for opportunity, through inclusion.

The author is the UK government's Minister for Europe.