Turkey has been trying to get into the European Union for decades. Finally, the application was put on the back burner because the EU felt that Turkey was lacking when it came to EU human rights standards.
For the past several months, Turkey has become one of the primary countries from which Middle Eastern refugees have gained access to the EU, eithe rby walking into Bulgaria or by taking trafficker-run inflatable boats to cross the five mile stretch of Mediterranean to the Greek Island of Lesbos. (Time Ocober 19the has a remarkable report on the refugee crisis.)
Overwhelemed by the numbers, the EU has offered to help Turkey set up reception centers for the refugees, in exchange for putting Turkey's application to itself enter Europe. The irony is that the unstated reason for EU reluctance to accept Turkey as a member state has been the fact that it is a Muslim country. Now, Turkey looks like the lesser of all evils, and although Erdogan claims his country will not be blackmailed, I'm sure he's laughing up his sleeve.
