ABSTRACT
The Secretariat General for European Union (EU) Affairs within Turkey’s Prime Ministerial Office distributed a jacket pin in 2010, showing the EU and Turkish flag merged into each other. It integrated the star in the Turkish crescent and star into the EU ring of twelve stars, and shaped the EU ring of stars in such a way that it looked like an extended half-moon.2 At first glance, the image provided is one of harmony. We belong together, the pin seems to say. Yet on reflection, one can think of at least two further interpretations. One would emphasise the ambiguity in the picture: Turkey’s star is one of Europe’s, but its crescent remains outside Europe. The other one would invoke a discourse of fear: The EU stars take on the shape of the crescent – this is what may happen if Turkey became an EU member, critics may say; it will change the shape of the EU. Plus, the crescent looks as if it is threatening to pull out that star, to tear the Union apart.
