Sitting Here in Limbo

Since Turkey formally sought E.U. membership in 1987, the country has been caught in a kind of purgatory between admission to the club and permanent outcast status. Despite carrying out major political and economic reforms under pressure from Brussels, including the abolition of the death penalty and of restrictions on Kurdish-language broadcasting, the Turks' chances are slim of getting exactly what they want at the December E.U. summit in Copenhagen — a firm date to start negotiations. For years, the E.U. has been smiling on the idea of Turkey's eventual admission while doing nothing to bring it about, because of opposition...