The Turkish Perspective

Annäherung auf Distanz – Die Türkei und die EU

A documentary by Sabine Küper and Thomas Büsch
ARTE, 45 Min. – broadcasted December 7th, 2004

Director – Sabine Küper and Thomas Büsch
Assistant – Sibel Olguner
Camera – Ingo Manzke, Cihad Aktas
Camera Assistant – Jörg Bohlmann
Cutter – Eric Schefter
Editor – Christian Popp, Madeleine Avramoussis

This picture gives an overview of the developments in Turkey regarding the EU; it describes the recent reform process and its status of implementation reflecting the positions on Turkey as a potential candidate for the EU. Politicians and experts will be interviewed expressing their opinion and expectation, among them we talked with the Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül and with experts as Nilüfer Narli (Kadir Has University, Istanbul), Francois Perouse (French Anatolian Institute, Istanbul) and Heinz Kramer (German Institute for International Politics and Security, Berlin) and others.

The documentary focuses on the following: the history of Turkey and the idea of it in Europe; the Islamic religion regarding the Republic of Turkey; economy and competition; the role of the security forces; and finally the strategic and geopolitical aspects of Turkey regarding an EU enlargement.

The shooting took place in Istanbul, Ankara and Diyarbakir and in Berlin and Strasbourg.