I have often holidayed in Turkey and always found it to be the most fascinating and welcoming of places.

Turkish hospitality – the people, the food, the music - is wonderful, while the culture of this most ancient of civilisations, this secular Muslim country on the cusp of both Europe and Asia, makes it a cultural melting pot unlike any other.

This hospitality is being stretched to its very limits by the current refugee crisis, of course. Turkey is struggling to cope with the two million people that have arrived from neighbouring Syria so far, a figure that makes David Cameron’s talk of “generous” Britain sound utterly laughable. Yet, as with the Iraq invasion, this is a country that finds itself in a uniquely powerful international position.

The past and the future will have weighed heavily on the minds of Europe’s leaders as they continue to hammer out a refugee deal with Turkey. As they deliberate on the “action plan” that could yet become a defining moment in the handling of this human catastrophe, thoughts of Aylan Kurdi, the four-year-old boy whose drowning on the Turkish coast stopped the world in its tracks, may have helped galvanise everyone around the table. News that an Afghan refugee had been shot dead by a Bulgarian border guard as he tried to cross into the EU from Turkey can only have focused minds even more.

If this deal sticks, then it could indeed be a turning point. Important markers have been laid down. If the flow of people is to be stemmed, this must begin in Turkey, the only country that can offer localised sanctuary to Syrians. And, crucially, the EU must pay Turkey to do this.

With proper funding, I don’t doubt that the country can start to provide a better future for refugees than the grim camps on offer at the moment. Interestingly, however, humanitarian concern may not be uppermost in the mind of Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he drives his bargain. The £2.2bn in funds from the EU to help Turkey is merely an opening gambit.

It seems Erdogan, a reformer/strongman/tyrant/savvy political operator depending on your point of view, may also manage to negotiate near free movement for Turkish citizens in Europe and, crucially, a resumption in negotiations on Turkey’s application to join the EU.

And herein lies the next big problem for Europe: is Turkey really ready to be part of the EU?

As much as I admire and enjoy spending time in this most colourful of countries, the answer has to be a big fat no.

Turkey’s record on economic growth, human rights and the position of women in society leaves much to be desired, while its long-running and bloody internal conflict with Kurdish separatists shows no sign of resolution. It has a lot to prove on these and many other issues before it should be even considered a candidate. EU countries, especially those in the west, must be clear with Turkey about what joining such an economic and social union entails.

They must be careful not to give Erdogan too much power at this sensitive time. No matter how much we need Turkey to take the burden from Syria, more important is the need to ensure all EU citizens are afforded the rights and freedoms it was set up to promote.