Why did Turkey want to join the EU?

Why did Türkiye want to join the European Union? Dr. Aslı Peker, Clinical Associate Professor in the Program in International Relations at New York University, describes a "deliberate choice to westernize" which dates back to the early days of the Turkish Republic.
This video is from the FPA archives.

[@supersasquatch]

They can join as soon as they reject Islam basically

[@Kabodanki]

Their plan is to conquer europe with that.