Papers by Beken Saatcioglu
European Politics and Society, 2021
This article examines the European Union (EU)’s response to the 2015–2016 refugee crisis. Departi... more This article examines the European Union (EU)’s response to the 2015–2016 refugee crisis. Departing from the understanding that Europe is a contested phenomenon, it investigates how different – Thick, Thin, Parochial and Global – Europes influenced the EU’s management of the crisis culminating in the March 2016 EU-Turkey ‘refugee deal’. Two findings are advanced. First, European actors reacted differently to the EU’s initially attempted Thick Europe approach to the crisis, following their respective Europe conceptions. Second, faced with growing divisions, they ultimately united around a lowest common denominator solution represented by the refugee deal which illustrated Thin Europe at the expense of a more norm-based policy associated with Thick and Global Europes. The findings demonstrate the significance of embedding the various European reactions to the crisis within different Europe categories while showing that consensus was still possible to tackle an external problem.
Turkish Studies, 2020
This article investigates the evolving relationship between the European Union (EU) and Turkey fo... more This article investigates the evolving relationship between the European Union (EU) and Turkey following the 2015 refugee crisis. It argues that post-crisis relations have become predominantly functional, measured by strategic EU-Turkey partnership based on interdependence as well as the EU’s relative retreat from political membership conditionality. This is particularly demonstrated by the March 2016 EU-Turkey ‘refugee deal’ whereby functional cooperation deepened amidst material and normative concessions that the EU granted Ankara. The article concludes that although functionalism is set to guide the relations beyond the question of Turkey’s EU accession, a future EU-Turkey external differentiated integration arrangement remains uncertain due to pending challenges.
South European Society and Politics, 2016
Abstract This article investigates the political dynamics shaping the post-2010 ‘de-Europeanisati... more Abstract This article investigates the political dynamics shaping the post-2010 ‘de-Europeanisation’ of Turkey’s judicial system, particularly regarding judicial independence and rule of law. The analysis suggests the limits of conventional Europeanisation accounts emphasising causal factors such as European Union (EU) conditionality and the ‘lock-in effects’ of liberal reforms due to the benefits of EU accession. The article argues that the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP’s) bid for political hegemony resulted in the reversal of rule of law reforms. De-Europeanisation is discussed in terms of both legislative changes and the government’s observed discourse shift.
Copyright remains with the author(s). Discussion papers of the WZB serve to disseminate the resea... more Copyright remains with the author(s). Discussion papers of the WZB serve to disseminate the research results of work in progress prior to publication to encourage the exchange of ideas and academic debate. Inclusion of a paper in the discussion paper series does not constitute publication and should not limit publication in any other venue. The discussion papers published by the WZB represent the views of the respective author(s) and not of the institute as a whole.
Southeast Europe in Focus, Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft, 2020
The article analyzes EU-Turkey relations in the Western Balkans (WB) in an attempt to uncover the... more The article analyzes EU-Turkey relations in the Western Balkans (WB) in an attempt to uncover the cooperation and conflict potential between the two in the region. Specifically, it assesses the extent to which Turkey can be considered a partner of the EU versus representing a
competitor or even an alternative to Brussels for the WB countries. It argues that positing Turkey as a proactive, alternative regional power seeking to expand its presence and influence in the region at the EU’s expense are overstated. Despite the EU’s damaged credibility in the pursuit of its enlargement policy, Turkey’s capabilities, incentives and foreign policy priorities simply fall short of producing a competitive “Turkish model/alternative” in the region. First, there are practical limits to Turkey’s regional power status, which is far from representing a realistic substitute for the WB countries’ Euro-Atlantic ties. In addition, despite the difficulties ahead, these countries still aspire for integration into European structures, which is also aligned with Turkey’s foreign policy interests. Second, limitations aside, gaining hegemony in the WB is not Ankara’s foreign policy priority given the urgency of multiple policy issues waiting to be tackled on all fronts. Third, from a Realpolitik standpoint, Turkey and the EU are expected to constructively engage to find solutions for common challenges such as migration, which concerns the WB as well.
Cologne, University of Cologne, March 2019, 40 p. (FEUTURE Synthesis Paper), 2019
The FEUTURE final synthesis paper accomplishes two principal aims. First, it synthesizes FEUTURE’... more The FEUTURE final synthesis paper accomplishes two principal aims. First, it synthesizes FEUTURE’s research findings that study EU-Turkey relations in the six thematic areas of politics, identity, economy, security, energy and migration, focusing on how their respective drivers generate different degrees of conflict and cooperation in the relationship. Based on this synthesis, it argues that the scenario of “conflictual cooperation” – where cooperation is likely to endure despite the prevalence of conflictual dynamics mostly emanating from politics – is set to define EU-Turkey relations in the foreseeable fu-ture. Second, it develops an institutional design for the future relationship which, given the fact that Turkey’s EU accession process has now become dormant, accepts conflict as an endemic feature of the relations but tries to mitigate it by deepening cooperation. Upon assessing differentiated integration models the EU follows with member- and non-member countries, the paper concludes that, as a result of geopolitical proximity as well as deepened, multifarious interactions over several centuries, the EU–Turkey relationship has become too complex and dynamic to be captured by any single such model. It thus suggests a new institutional framework, termed a “dynamic association”, that would be comple-mentary to Turkey’s albeit stalled accession process. While being centered around a rules-based com-ponent represented by an upgraded EU-Turkey Customs Union agreement as a starting point, the as-sociation also includes more transactional dimensions of cooperation such as migration, security and energy. The paper concludes that conceptualized as such, the dynamic association promises to foster not only cooperative but also convergent trends between the EU and Turkey into and beyond the 2023 timeframe.
Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies , 2014
The literature on European Union (EU)–Turkey relations has mostly focused on explaining the gener... more The literature on European Union (EU)–Turkey relations has mostly focused on explaining the general slowdown in the Justice and Development Party (AKP)'s post-2005 Europeanization rather than analysing the more puzzling question of why some reforms persisted as opposed to others despite the falling credibility of EU membership in the same period. To fill this gap, the paper studies the AKP's differential ‘Europeanization’ concerning civilianization, rule of law and fundamental freedoms. While reforms targeting civilianization persisted over the years, democratic progress in the other two areas rather stalled after 2007. It is argued that this variation is induced by AKP's changing domestic political empowerment needs. Specifically, AKP used the EU reform process as an instrument of political survival followed by power consolidation after 2007.
Turkey and the European Union: Facing New Challenges and Opportunities, Firat Cengiz and Lars Hoffmann (eds.), 2014
Previous studies have analyzed the AKP’s EU-oriented reforms using the
external incentives model... more Previous studies have analyzed the AKP’s EU-oriented reforms using the
external incentives model or strategic calculations of cost-benefits that make integration appealing to the party. Yet, very little attention has been paid to how the AKP’s Islamic roots have influenced its perception of the benefits that trigger or decrease support for EU integration. This chapter analyses the current, puzzling stalemate in Turkey-EU relations from the perspective of domestic political dynamics, especially the AKP’s shifting calculation of benefits related to EU accession, which we argue explains the decline in EU-led reforms in Turkey. By analyzing the AKP’s choices as an Islamic-rooted organization, this study also sheds light onto broader questions of how religious concerns inform actors’ shifting calculations and strategic positions and attitudes vis à vis political issues.
Democratization , Nov 29, 2014
What explains Islamic organizations' differing support for European integration and the democrati... more What explains Islamic organizations' differing support for European integration and the democratic reforms that it entails? The question is highly relevant in the context of European Union (EU) enlargement towards Muslim-majority countries in the Balkans as well as theoretical debates on reasons and forms of Islamic moderation. Yet, almost no comparative research has been done on Balkan Muslims' support for European integration with the exception of the Turkish case. This article explores the role of interest- and belief-related factors in explaining Muslim organizations' differential support for the EU accession project in Albania and Turkey. The comparison of the most powerful Muslim organizations in both countries enables a most similar cases research design – our cases are similar in all aspects of the identified theoretical framework except for organizational capacities, which we argue explain the difference of attitudes towards the EU.
This article analyzes the EU’s December 2004 Brussels decision regarding membership talks with Tu... more This article analyzes the EU’s December 2004 Brussels decision regarding membership talks with Turkey. While the Brussels Council launched accession negotiations with Turkey, the adopted Framework for Negotiations formulated exceptionally stringent membership terms. This is a puzzle for normative institutionalism because prior to Brussels, Turkey had sufficiently complied with the EU’s liberal democratic membership criteria and systematically engaged
in “rhetorical action” to “entrap” the EU in its liberal, inclusionary enlargement discourse. It is argued that the puzzle is explained by how the EU member states’ enlargement preferences played out in an intergovernmental bargaining context when it came to the inclusion of Turkey.
Turkey's Accession to the European Union: Political and Economic Challenges, 2012
Credible EU conditionality is theorized as a central mechanism for bringing EU candidates to comp... more Credible EU conditionality is theorized as a central mechanism for bringing EU candidates to comply with the political membership criteria. The literature on conditionality’s domestic impacts does not sufficiently explore the possibility of democratic reforms in the absence of credible conditionality. This article tests this alternative hypothesis by studying Turkey under the rule of the AKP (2002-2009). It is argued that notwithstanding the falling credibility of the conditional membership perspective for the ruling actors after 2004, Turkish compliance persisted because it promised political benefits to the government. This finding highlights that domestic governments’ belief in conditionality is not a necessary condition of compliance with the EU.
What explains the EU compliance of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)? Since it ... more What explains the EU compliance of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)? Since it came to power in 2002, AKP has launched legislative reforms in order to meet the European Union’s political membership criteria (i.e., democracy, rule of law, human rights and minority rights). These reforms are puzzling since they happened in the absence of the two conditions of compliance argued in the literature: (1) credible EU political conditionality, (2) liberal ruling parties in EU candidate states. I argue that AKP’s pro-EU reform agenda is explained by neither a belief in the possibility of membership via democratization (credible conditionality) nor liberal political identity. Rather, democratic measures under AKP are instrumentally induced. Two broad political motivations have guided AKP’s reform commitment: (1) the electoral incentive to please Turkey’s pro-EU membership electorate as well as AKP’s conservative/religious constituency eager to see freedom of religion expanded under EU conditionality, (2) the motive to use reforms to weaken domestic secular forces (i.e. the military and high courts) and “survive” as a party with Islamist roots in Turkey’s secular political system. The paper supports the argument with evidence gathered from original coding data for both conditionality and compliance as well as process-tracing.
Turkish Studies, 2009
Research on the EU’s membership conditionality focuses more on conditionality’s domestic impacts ... more Research on the EU’s membership conditionality focuses more on conditionality’s domestic impacts than on conditionality itself. The question of how consistently the EU seeks the Copenhagen criteria prior to offering membership is rarely investigated. To fill this gap, this article studies conditionality regarding Turkey, arguing that true conditionality should exclusively link EU demands for compliance with the formal membership criteria to rewards in the accession process. In coding the EU’s conditionality signals for “exclusiveness of linkage”, low formal conditionality in Turkey was found. It is concluded that the EU’s anticipated costs of “absorbing” Turkey caused its unwillingness to deploy proper formal conditionality.
Books by Beken Saatcioglu
In May and June of 2013, an encampment protesting against the privatisation of an historic public... more In May and June of 2013, an encampment protesting against the privatisation of an historic public space in a commercially vibrant square of Istanbul began as a typical urban social movement for individual rights and freedoms, with no particular political affiliation. Thanks to the brutality of the police and the Turkish Prime Minister's reactions, the mobilisation soon snowballed into mass opposition to the regime. This volume puts together an excellent collection of field research, qualitative and quantitative data, theoretical approaches and international comparative contributions in order to reveal the significance of the Gezi Protests in
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Papers by Beken Saatcioglu
competitor or even an alternative to Brussels for the WB countries. It argues that positing Turkey as a proactive, alternative regional power seeking to expand its presence and influence in the region at the EU’s expense are overstated. Despite the EU’s damaged credibility in the pursuit of its enlargement policy, Turkey’s capabilities, incentives and foreign policy priorities simply fall short of producing a competitive “Turkish model/alternative” in the region. First, there are practical limits to Turkey’s regional power status, which is far from representing a realistic substitute for the WB countries’ Euro-Atlantic ties. In addition, despite the difficulties ahead, these countries still aspire for integration into European structures, which is also aligned with Turkey’s foreign policy interests. Second, limitations aside, gaining hegemony in the WB is not Ankara’s foreign policy priority given the urgency of multiple policy issues waiting to be tackled on all fronts. Third, from a Realpolitik standpoint, Turkey and the EU are expected to constructively engage to find solutions for common challenges such as migration, which concerns the WB as well.
external incentives model or strategic calculations of cost-benefits that make integration appealing to the party. Yet, very little attention has been paid to how the AKP’s Islamic roots have influenced its perception of the benefits that trigger or decrease support for EU integration. This chapter analyses the current, puzzling stalemate in Turkey-EU relations from the perspective of domestic political dynamics, especially the AKP’s shifting calculation of benefits related to EU accession, which we argue explains the decline in EU-led reforms in Turkey. By analyzing the AKP’s choices as an Islamic-rooted organization, this study also sheds light onto broader questions of how religious concerns inform actors’ shifting calculations and strategic positions and attitudes vis à vis political issues.
in “rhetorical action” to “entrap” the EU in its liberal, inclusionary enlargement discourse. It is argued that the puzzle is explained by how the EU member states’ enlargement preferences played out in an intergovernmental bargaining context when it came to the inclusion of Turkey.
Books by Beken Saatcioglu
competitor or even an alternative to Brussels for the WB countries. It argues that positing Turkey as a proactive, alternative regional power seeking to expand its presence and influence in the region at the EU’s expense are overstated. Despite the EU’s damaged credibility in the pursuit of its enlargement policy, Turkey’s capabilities, incentives and foreign policy priorities simply fall short of producing a competitive “Turkish model/alternative” in the region. First, there are practical limits to Turkey’s regional power status, which is far from representing a realistic substitute for the WB countries’ Euro-Atlantic ties. In addition, despite the difficulties ahead, these countries still aspire for integration into European structures, which is also aligned with Turkey’s foreign policy interests. Second, limitations aside, gaining hegemony in the WB is not Ankara’s foreign policy priority given the urgency of multiple policy issues waiting to be tackled on all fronts. Third, from a Realpolitik standpoint, Turkey and the EU are expected to constructively engage to find solutions for common challenges such as migration, which concerns the WB as well.
external incentives model or strategic calculations of cost-benefits that make integration appealing to the party. Yet, very little attention has been paid to how the AKP’s Islamic roots have influenced its perception of the benefits that trigger or decrease support for EU integration. This chapter analyses the current, puzzling stalemate in Turkey-EU relations from the perspective of domestic political dynamics, especially the AKP’s shifting calculation of benefits related to EU accession, which we argue explains the decline in EU-led reforms in Turkey. By analyzing the AKP’s choices as an Islamic-rooted organization, this study also sheds light onto broader questions of how religious concerns inform actors’ shifting calculations and strategic positions and attitudes vis à vis political issues.
in “rhetorical action” to “entrap” the EU in its liberal, inclusionary enlargement discourse. It is argued that the puzzle is explained by how the EU member states’ enlargement preferences played out in an intergovernmental bargaining context when it came to the inclusion of Turkey.