What has been achieved regarding Turkey’s efforts at integration to the EU and what obstacles remain to it achieving full membership? Like other developing countries, Turkey displays visible signs of advancement with rapid increases in living standards, greater mobility and the rapid spread of technology. Much of its legislation and political, economic and administrative systems are also now aligned to the EU and this process has undoubtedly contributed to democratization and modernization. At the same time problems in politics and society persist; the Gezi protests, limitations of freedom of expression, frequent occupational accidents in the mining and construction sectors, honour killings and political upheaval which has manifested itself most starkly with the recent coup attempt all call attention to the challenges facing a country in the process of change. Charting the political, legal and economic relations between Turkey and the European Union since 1959 this book explores the relationship through phases such as association, customs union and candidacy. Each chapter covers a particular period in the relations and/or a theme which has both current and overall relevance to the conduct of the relations. In this way, the authors examine the impact of the EU in affecting change, what has been achieved and the obstacles that remain.

This book examines the important issue of Turkey's relationship with Europe. The authors uniquely present the Turkish view of integration within the broad context of the debates on Europeanisation and sovereignty, but with a specific focus on the internal debates and issues in Turkey itself. Key issues considered include populism, economic policy design, nationalism, Islam, human rights, business, public attitudes to Europeanisation and the position of the Turkish polity.

Despite having made its first application for EEC membership in 1959, Turkey’s bid to join the EU remains as controversial as ever, with Turkey and EU relations arguably at an all–time low in the aftermath of the attempted coup d’état of July 2016. In this context, the essays here, while using (de)Europeanisation as a broad theoretical framework, explore the current state of Turkey’s EU accession bid from a variety of perspectives, including discourse analysis, Euroscepticism and institutionalist approaches. The essays focus not only on discursive and policy (de)Europeanisation within Turkey, but also examine both official EU and European right–wing Eurosceptic discourse on Turkish accession, as well as approaching the Turkish accession process through comparisons with the contemporary Western Balkan countries and with post–war Germany.

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.

This study examines the history and politics of Turkey-EU relations since 1959, exploring the complex interaction of geostrategic and normative concerns which have resulted in the current lack of accession progress and Turkey's slide to authoritarianism.

Turkish accession to the European Union is an important but controversial item on the agenda of the European Union. By focusing on the various domestic sources that drive Turkish politics, this comprehensive study of both classic and new topics supported by fresh, new insights fills a void in the current literature on Turkey-EU relations. This volume is a comprehensive, state of the art study of domestic politics and policies and their role in Turkey’s EU accession. Contributions are obtained from established scholars, acknowledged for their expertise in their respective fields. The content is structured along issues, dynamics, actors and policies that drive Turkish politics and it provides an integrated assessment of the dynamics in Turkey-EU relations to general readers, students and specialists in EU Enlargement and Turkish politics alike. Original contributions to ‘classic’ topics such as the customs union, human rights, military, civil society, public and elite opinion, political parties and the Kurdish issue are made by assessing the domestic sources of recent developments during the negotiations period. In addition, ‘new’ topics are included that previously have not been covered or analyzed in volumes on Turkish-EU relations such as the Alevi issue, European Turks, corruption in Turkey, and Turkish parliamentary elite opinion on Turkey and the EU. This book was published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

The State of European Integration provides scholars, practitioners, experts and students with a comprehensive account of the state of the European Union today. With contributions from leading scholars including Richard G. Whitman, Meltem Müftüler-Baç, Gülnur Aybet, Leila Simona Talani and Gareth Dale, the book examines the EU in a theoretically informed and empirically grounded manner. Opening with an exploration into the nature of the European Union as an international actor, it then assesses the impact of enlargement on institutions, policies and identity. The contributors investigate issues related to the degree of convergence and cohesion among members, and analyze the economic and monetary state of integration. The volume comes at a timely interval when there is a need to understand the present and future of the European Union.

Contributing to our understanding of the impact of the 2015 migrant “crisis” on the future of EU integration, this book views the “crisis” as an accelerant to existing problems, namely Brexit, the growing popularity of anti-immigrant far right parties and the rise of xenophobic and antiliberal governments from the Baltics to the Balkans. Providing analysis at the national, regional level and EU level, this book shows how the countries on the migrant route have been affected according to their degree of integration with the EU and the specific socio-political and economic conditions of each country. The volume will be of interest to scholars or international relations, security studies, border studies, EU policies, migration studies and Southeast European studies.

A rapidly-changing nation and a key player in the Middle East, Turkey has long been centrally important to both the United States and the European Union. A major partner both of the EU and Turkey, the US has also been the most ardent and committed supporter of closer ties between them. Yet while Turkey’s relations with the US and the EU have been intimately linked, they have not proceeded along two parallel planes. Nathalie Tocci tells the story of this dynamic triangular relationship, exploring how and why the US has shaped the course of relations among its allies. An empirical study with strong policy relevance, this volume draws on in-depth interviews and official documents to provide a succinct overview of the issues and stakeholders. Tocci argues that the Turkish situation can be viewed as a quintessential case study, tackling broader questions about US foreign policy in the region as a whole.

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.