Gerald Knaus kicked off the debate by giving an overview of the attitudes toward Turkey's EU candidacy in three member states: Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. He provided data from the opinion polls but also presented some observations he gathered from the political leaders. Gerald Knaus put forward that neither the politicians nor the church in these three countries are against Turkey's membership but they go along with the public, not to take any risks, since thir stance is shaped by the popular literature and media pieces it follows. Gerald Knaus gave some examples of "honor killing" incidents among Turks living in Europe and names of books which criticize the role of women in Islam. arguing that these case dramatically pushed the public to think that Muslims are disrespectful toward women.

Accordingly, the current debate in Europe on Turkey's membership has focused on the cultural differences and the concerns over human rights. The debate following Gerald Knaus' presentation urged that Turkey has to make it known to the European public that it has made progress on issues like freedom of expression and the status of women and ethnic minorities. Turks among the audience proposed some ideas on how Turkey can shift the focus and prove that change has taken place at home.