In 2005 the European Commission and the Turkish government started their investigation of the adaptation of Turkish legislation to European law. But public opinion remains sceptical and a thorough discussion among European and Turkish proponents is still needed. Apart from the many beliefs, ideals and prognoses that circulate about the past and future of Europe as well as Turkey, the negotiations continue and different scenarios and time-frames are being developed. In the end, it is the question of the otherness of Turkey to Europe that constitutes the core of the discussion and may offer the start of an answer. To put forward the arguments for and against Turkish accession to the European Union, the University Centre Saint-Ignatius Antwerp organised a two-day academic workshop held in June 2006 in Antwerp. This publication gathers together the opinions of Turkish and European scholars and diplomats about the socio-economic, cultural-religious and political arguments being used in the discussion.

This book brings together historians, political scientists, social anthropologists and legal scholars from Turkey and the EU. The authors address questions such as the role of religion in EU membership debates, religious parties in Turkey and Europe, religion and European security, freedom of religion and minority rights in Turkey and the EU.

Eurasian Politics and Society: Issues and Challenges studies the various outcomes of regional transformation, the ideology of Turkish Eurasianism, and the Eurasian Economic Union. In doing so, it looks at the power struggle in the South Caucasus, Kazakhstan’s relations with Russia, Russia’s sense of Eurasianism, and geopolitical awareness as a pattern of imperial self-perception for Putin’s Russia. The book also provides a detailed analysis of the situation in Syria from a humanitarian perspective, and utilizes an innovative approach in exploring how the European Neighbourhood Policy resonates in Neo/Functionalism. As such, this volume represents a valuable resource for graduate and undergraduate students, academics and researchers in the areas of security, political economy, European studies, post-Soviet studies, and Eurasian studies.

How are global crises responded and dealt with? Are there any links between regionalism and global crises in terms of stimuli, processes, and consequences? This edited volume brings together a range of examples illustrating the development and importance of regional actors in the global governance of the political economy.

As one of the six founding member-states of the European Union, the Netherlands has been at the heart of the European integration project from its inception. Looking back on the Netherlands' role in European cooperation and integration during the 1950s and 1960s, Joseph Luns, the country's long-standing Foreign Minister, depicted himself as an exponent of a «Dutch vision». This vision, Luns suggested, enabled the country to act as a leading force in Europe, thus demonstrating that in specific constellations in international affairs, a middle-sized or even a small country can play an important role. What was this «Dutch vision» of Europe and was Luns right in ascribing so much importance to it? In this book, the author sets out to investigate whether, under which conditions and by what means the Netherlands has exerted an «engineering influence» on the economic and institutional architecture of the European Union. It sheds fresh light on the policies of the Netherlands and its Benelux partners in the process of making Europe as we know it today. Achieving the Common Market may well be considered the ultimate success of contemporary Dutch diplomacy.

This book examines the politics of EU accession; by assessing the experiences of the newly-democratised and acceded Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, and the challenges that Turkey faces.

Discourse, Identity and the Question of Turkish Accession to the EU: Through the Looking Glass provides an invaluable analysis of the issues of Turkish accession to the EU. The focus on elite discourse provides a new and engaging approach to this contentious topic and offers a unique understanding of the competing arguments within the EU regarding the question of Turkey’s accession and the differing visions for the European Union that underlie them. Utilising the Habermasian Theory of Communicative Action Catherine MacMillan focuses on how political elites from the member states and EU institutions engage with the issue, analyses the different attitudes to the Turkish candidacy to the EU and explores the wider implications and competing visions of the EU the differences highlight. By closely examining the different ways that EU elites view and react to this issue vital lessons about the potential wider enlargement of the union to central and eastern Europe can be drawn.

In this volume several theologians from different Christian traditions examine how Bartholomew I as Ecumenical Patriarch has influenced the contemporary European scene, the various dialogues between Orthodox churches and Reformed and Roman Catholic churches, the ongoing work of the World Council of Churches, and the modern ecumenical movement. These essays, largely from non-Orthodox authors, paint a portrait of the Ecumenical Patriarch that has been often overlooked in Western circles -- as a deeply Orthodox leader who wishes to relate Orthodoxy to the modern world and to have it make its contribution to the unity of Christians. Contributors: Anna Marie Aagaard Peter C. Bouteneff Gnther Gassmann Dale T. Irvin Ronald G. Roberson, CSP William G. Rusch Joseph D. Small Mary Tanner

These papers examine the history behind Turkey's application for EU membership. The contributors tackle the thorny issues of Cyprus, Turkey's attitude towards a common defence policy and Turkish parliamentarians' views on the nation's relations with the European Union.

This book focuses on the hidden but ever-present civil society dimension of the EU’s policies towards Turkey and uncovers the pitfall of EU–Turkey relations. It establishes the growing depoliticization of Turkish civil society (in contrast to what the EU’s policies aimed for) and engages with the questions of why and how Turkish civil society depoliticized. It discusses how Turkey’s retreating democracy, and the intense polarization in Turkish political and social life make rights-based activism more difficult. Finally, this book investigates what implications Turkish civil society’s depoliticization bears for EU–Turkey relations, reveals the diminishing leverage of the EU’s policies and discusses how this reflects on Turkey’s already closing civic space. It explains why and how EU-Turkey relations deteriorated over the last decade, examines the current stalemate, and discusses why civil society matters. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students in the field of EU–Turkey relations, Turkish studies and civil society studies as well as more broadly to NGOs, European studies and politics, and International Relations.