Europeanization of Identities and
Turkey
EUR 514
Belma Yorulmaz
May 7th, 2011
Content
• Turkish Foreign Policy
• Turkey public opinion regarding EU accession
• Public opinion of Europen countries’ regarding
Turkey’s EU accession
Turkey’s Membership Visited
• Cronology of Accession
– Roma Agreement 1953,
– Costoms union agreement in 1995
– Membership application in 1995 and approval of
accession process in 1999, Helsinki
– 2005 accession negotiations start
• Economical, democratical (ethnic nationalism,
military intervantions) obstacles
Factors of new direction orientation
in Foreign Policy
• The active role of Abdullah Gül and Ahmet Davutoğlu
• Increase in nationalization of in EU policies as a result of the
slowdown and blockages in accession process in EU
• Deep crisis in western countries, comparatively stronger BRIC
countries
• Turkey’s confidence in economic performance, being one of G20
countries, no agreement signed with IMF
• Globalization requires multi-dimensional relationships, Turkey
started to develop that after Cold War
• Trade and economic roots of foreign policy, active participation of
civil society as TOBB, MUSIAD in policy making of government
• AKP’s culture and identity that is basically based of Islamic root
• Increase in domestic popularity of AKP as a result of the new
foreign policy
CHP perspective
• EU as a target
• Arguments regarding AKP ‘s domestic policy
orientation, Islamic roots and Middle East
• Membership constraints are unfair/Greece
• Free movement of labor could not be
materialized
• Cypus case as a constraint to other articles
Eurobarometer 2010 /
Is EU a good thing
Eurobarometer 2010 / Is EU
beneficial?
EU perspective in Turkey’s accession to
EU
• Euro Crisis & diminishing trust to Euro
• Anti-ıslamists movements in EU/Merkel
• Merkel concluded that they were
unsuccessfully in creating a multicultural
environment within Germany
• Spain and Belgium presidency in 2010,
different perspectives in accession process
German media Debate on Turkey’s
Accession