When I was in Turkey last year, there was a clear keenness among the people I met to join the EU, with the belief that membership would help continue the path of social liberalism that the country adopted during the 20th Century. Some expressed a worry about the regulatory burden of membership. Nevertheless, EU membership would be beneficial for Turkey, solidifying its improvements in human rights, and useful to the West in foreign policy terms as a peaceful, Muslim country in the region with - very importantly - mosque-state separation. The Economist rightly calls for greater efforts from the EU to support Turkish membership, saying: “Turks fear that too many in the EU would rejoice if Turkey were to stumble on its way to Europe. That fear encourages them to look in other directions. Yet the risk of losing Turkey as a prime example of a liberal, Western-oriented, Muslim democracy that works is huge. Europe's leaders must do whatever they can to bring Turkey back on course.”