What are the risks and the opportunities associated with Turkey joining the European Union? It is a country full of contradictions that is desperately trying to overcome its negative image of a place where »honour killings«, corruption, dead journalists and authors on the run dominate the headlines. Looking for answers, Dieter Sauter spoke to mafiosi, military men, policemen, as well as those campaigning for women’s rights and basic human rights. He explains how this country in transition works, situated as it is on the borders of the Middle East, with its crisis areas and energy resources, and what we need to know in order to gain a thorough understanding of its people and politics.
- In the autumn of 2007 the new »progress report« on the question of Turkey's accession to the EU will be published
Dieter Sauter, born in 1950, studied at Tübingen University and started reporting for Bavarian television in 1981. He was head of the ARD-Studio in Istanbul from 1992 to 2005, covering Turkey and Iran, with offices in Ankara, Diyarbakir and Teheran. He has been living in Istanbul, working as a freelance journalist since 2006.
In The Country of the Hamam