Turkey’s Ambivalent Relationship with the European Union: To Accede or not to Accede

Abstract

This paper investigates the changes in Turkish foreign policy towards the EU in the light of the alterations in the EU’s external environment that makes enlargement less likely at least in the near future, and the least likely with regard to Turkey. That is because, while the EU is going through turbulent times internally, its external environment is also changing significantly. The paper first looks at the EU’s enlargement policy, both in terms of its external and domestic scope conditions, and then at the specificities of Turkey’s stance with regards to the EU. Finally, the paper assesses whether the Turkish foreign policy towards the EU has changed since 2013, and if so in what ways. In doing so, the paper aims to assess the interplay of the external and domestic conditions in shaping the Turkish foreign policy towards the EU.

Keywords

Turkey, the European Union, Accession, Enlargement Negotiations

Citation

Müftüler-Baç, Meltem, “Turkey’s Ambivalent Relationship with the European Union: To Accede or not to Accede”, Uluslararası İlişkiler, Volume 13, No. 52, 2016, pp. 89-103.

Affiliations

• Meltem MÜFTÜLER-BAÇ, Prof. Dr., Department of International Relations, Jean Monnet Chair at Sabancı University