Turkey Needs To Turn Towards Europe, As It Always Has

International journal of innovative research and development, 2022

Introduction Turkey, officially known as the Republic of "Türkiye", is a country that occupies a special geographical spot. Turkey is a giant peninsula that connects the continents of Europe and Asia (Yapp, 2022). It is surrounded on three sides by the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Aegean Sea. Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and is characterised by a mountainous presence. Studies show that Turkey has been an associate member of the European Union (EU) since 1963 and an official applicant to European Union membership for many decades. Lippert (2021:267) added, "Turkey has always been a special as well as difficult case in the situation of EU enlargement." On 14th April, 1987, Turkey applied to officially join what was then the European Economic Community (EEC), and in 1999 it was declared eligible to join the EU. Turkey's involvement with European integration dates back to 1959 and includes the Ankara Association Agreement (1963) for the progressive establishment of a Customs Union (ultimately set up in 1995) (Tocci, 2014). The Republic of Türkiye has remained closely aligned with the West from the time when it became an independent country in 1923. It adhered to the Council of Europe in 1949, became a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 1952, and an associate member of the Western European Union (WEU) in 1992 (Littoz-Monnet and Penas, n.d). Tocci (2014:1) recalled that: Turkey appears to be one of the essential countries for the European Union. The importance of Turkey for Europe is firmly established by history dating back to Ottoman times. This could be through war, diplomacy, commerce, art, cuisine, or intermarriage. As a result, Turkey seems to be an integral part of Europe's history. For many centuries, the relationship between the two was characterised by cooperation and convergencefor instance, the deep economic, cultural, artistic, and societal exchanges between the Ottoman Empire and European powers and city-states in the fifteenth through to the seventeenth centuries.

Contemporary Security Policy

The subject of this article is the initial phases of this integration process, including Turkey’s membership of the Council of Europe, which is a result of and simultaneously a part of this historical process. Through analysing what meanings the Turkish decision makers attributed to the declaration of the Marshall Plan and the establishment of European organisations, and the factors which were used by European countries against Turkey’s membership in these organisations, we have tried to establish if there was any pattern of policy in relations between Turkey and Europe applied in the past. To find an answer to the question of whether or not these patterns are still in operation is left to the readers. In this respect, this analysis is an attempt to remind the students of Turkish politics of some important aspects of these initial phases as a way of understanding our relations with Europe today.

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2015

Turkey submitted its application for formal membership into the European Union in April 14, 1987. Until the present time, Turkey is still exerting its efforts to achieve that membership. With the arrival of the Justice and Development Party to power in 2002, the new Turkish leadership's concern with joining the European Union increased. Such membership is considered a strategic objective lying within the external challenges ahead of the Turkish foreign policy. The Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmad Dawood Oglu, considers joining the European Union a strategic priority that cannot be renounced. However, the obstacles that stand against achieving such a Turkish dream are many. Some of such obstacles relate to the Turkish cultural identity, some others concern human and minority rights and yet others pertain to economy which presents a real fear for the European Union. However, the Muslim Turkish cultural identity which is of a large population is the genuine obstacle for Turkey to join the Union. There are strong reservations for some countries in the Union about Turkey's membership as the latter would not harmonize with the identity of the Union and the culture of the peoples constituting it.

Third Report of the Independent Commission on Turkey, March, 2014

The third report of the Independent Commission on Turkey, analyzes what is necessary for progress in EU-Turkey relations under present circumstances. The report includes an analysis of the developments and major incidents in EU and Turkey, in addition to the significant milestones in Turkey’s EU accession process in the relevant period. Drawing attention to the fact that no new chapter was opened in Turkey’s accession talks between June 2010 and October 2013, the report concludes that the stalling of Turkey’s accession process was not exclusively due to the EU; Turkey also shared part of the responsibility. The report underlines that change is an imperative under these conditions and calls on both Turkey and the EU to pursue a re-energised accession process.

International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 2019

For a few decades, Europe watches Turkey evolution in a matter of politics, policy, policies, human rights and so on. Everything begins in 1959 when Turkey applies to associate membership to the European Economic Community. But unfortunately for Turkey, the accession to the Community was not to accomplish. In time, the European Economic Community became the European Union. The organization pass through the enlargement process multiple times that today it is the Union of the 28 countries, but still without Turkey as a member. After all this time, a question is raised: what drags Turkey from achieving the membership status in all this time? In this paper, we try to answer the above question through the Europeanization spectrum.

DergiPark (Istanbul University), 2004

New Europe' have caused consternation in 'Old Europe' on questions such as the Iraq War, the EU has worked to ensure that the accession of ten new states would not fundamentally threaten its economic, political, and foreign policy goals. The 2004 expansion, of course, will not be the final one for the EU. Bulgaria and Romania have moved to the front of the membership queue, and, although problems remain with their applications (particularly Romania's), they will be likely to join the EU shortly. Accession talks will soon begin with Croatia, Macedonia is advancing a membership application, and other countries such as Bosnia and Albania aim to join the EU one day. These countries, however, are small and, for the most part, are considered natural candidates for the EU. The same cannot be said for Turkey, which, for many, is the most problematic of all countries aspiring to join the EU. It is too big 5 , too poor 6 , too agricultural 7 , too Muslim, too authoritarian, too nationalistic, some would claim, to fit into today's EU. As indicated in the prefatory quotes, some fear its accession to the EU would be the 'end of Europe. Turkey, however, has long aspired to join the EU. In 1963, its eligibility on geographic grounds was affirmed by the then European Economic Community (EEC), in an Association Agreement it concluded with Brussels. Despite the fact that its membership bid was rejected out of hand in 1987, Ankara persevered with its European ambitions, which were again squashed by Brussels in 1997. However, in December 1999, the EU agreed that it would consider Turkish membership, if Turkey's Place in the 'New Europe' PERCEPTIONS • Autumn 2004 4 Some would argue, however, that the requirements of Copenhagen and political conditionality are not so clearly defined or self-evident.

Turkey's Europeanization process has lost its dynamism since late 2005 at least partly because of the EU's ambiguous attitude toward Turkish membership, which damaged the EU's credibility and therefore the legitimacy underpinning its policy of democracy promotion. This article critically examines the evolution of Turkey's accession to the EU, and the latter's performance in democracy promotion. After a brief review of EU formal reports and declarations, the article analyzes the main shortcomings in Turkey's democratization-cum-Europeanization process. It argues that the evolving nature of EU expectations, its perceived double standards, and growing opposition of some Western European countries to Turkey's accession contributed to the weakening of EU's democracy promotion in Turkey.

Economics World, 2015

The purpose of this paper, in the light of recent developments, is to analyze whether or not there is an axial drift in Turkey, which is a part of Europe. With the decision of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany, after the collapse of the wall, known as the iron curtain, built on August 13, 1961 in Berlin, the Soviet Union disintegrated on the date of December 25, 1991 and a new unipolar restructure came into view. New hopes, uncertainties, and new threats were brought along by the US-led restructuring. The Cold War period ended, a drastic change process with the Eurasian axis in the international relations started to be lived in, and the world order based on the the nuclear balance between the East and the West also died out. Having been located at the intersection point of Europe and Asia and therefore of strategic importance, Central Asia has been bringing together the two continents for centuries. In this geography, Turkey has been the first country to recognize the Republics that have gained their independence for the last 20 years. Starting in 1991, the relations between Turkey and Central Asia countries progressed swiftly. Turkey, on one hand, has been developing the economical and political relations with the aforesaid countries, but on the other hand, it has also been continuing to progress on the course of being granted a full membership to the EU (European Union). Turkey has been the only Muslim country to head towards the West since Tanzimat (the Reformations in 1839). Besides, Turkey, by having preserved the cultural values, having adopted the democratic principles, having a common border with the Western world, and being her neighbour, is the only and the most developed country to have chosen the West on the economic, cultural, social, and sporting areas among the 57 Islamic countries existing in the world. Turkey, with different political and economic systems, is ready to contribute towards ensuring peace and economic prosperity in Central Asia and Eurasia. The diplomatic activity demonstrated by Turkey in its region was interpreted by some parties as undergoing a shift in the axis of the country and becoming Islamized. The development preparing the ground for the emergence of the axis debates in Turkey is that the relationship between Turkey and EU has come to a dead end. While about 80% of the public supporting for full membership in the years of 1999-2005, this proportion dropped to 40% in recent years. Without the support of the public opinion, no government in the Republic of Turkey will be enthusiastic about the EU membership, as it is, the relations between Turkey and the Western world will decline