In this book, diplomat Burak Akapar suggests a strategic framework for thinking about the foreign and security policy of Turkey, Europe, and the United States.

The question of Turkish membership in the European Union is highly controversial and subject to many misperceptions and misunderstandings on both sides. This book examines the politics of EU accession which have evolved during the expansion of the EU, from more procedural conditions to provisions of substantive democracy. With a particular focus on the challenges Turkey faces to join the EU, the authors examine the experiences of the newly-democratised and acceded Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to provide insight and to identify the best possible solutions. Combining the Turkish and Central European perspectives in one volume, and using a social constructivist approach, the authors address issues including Euroscepticism, EU absorption capacity, women’s rights, democratisation, Turkish Kamalism, the desecuritisation of Turkish politics and the problem of Northern Cyprus. This volume establishes the challenges the EU, its member states and the candidate countries need to face and successfully address in order to contribute to both their democratization and the European integration process. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, Turkish politics and international politics.

In Privatization in Turkey: Power Bloc, Capital Accumulation and State, Ahmet Zaifer offers a rare look on privatization in Turkey that involves all three historical periods of Turkish privatization process -1980s and 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s- and covers different forms of privatization from divestiture to public-private partnership. Benefiting from theoretically informed qualitative research spanning nearly a decade that has involved several interviews with key informant groups, extensive review of newspaper articles and detailed analysis of annual reports of businesses, Ahmet Zaifer convincingly proves that the acceleration of privatization in Turkey has not only provided advantages to so-called favourable capital groups and the government elites, but also consolidated the position of Capital in General at the expense of labouring-popular classes and the natural environment of the entire country.

This book puts forward an original approach to Europeanization in a global context. Following the world polity approach, the author establishes the missing link between global, European and domestic realms and reveals the multiplicity of dynamics and logics driving the reform process in European Union candidate countries. A range of other topics are investigated, including whether Europeanization is only driven by parochial strategic interests or by broader normative concerns and how we can make sense of the selectivity in domestic compliance with the EU without succumbing to binary thinking. Focusing on the critical case of Turkey, the book puts forward three varieties of Europeanization: strategic, normative and ritualized, which underlie the complex dynamics that drive the reform processes in EU candidate countries. It will be of interest to scholars and students with an interest in Sociology, Political Science, International Relations, Globalization, Europeanization, European Studies and Turkish Studies.

This book examines the impact of European political conditionality on the process of democratization in Turkey over a twenty year period. Employing theoretical and conceptual approaches to the issue of EU conditionality, the author compares the case of Turkey to that of other European nations. Arguing that Turkey became vulnerable to the European conditionality when it applied for membership in 1987, he shows how the political reforms demanded of Turkey were not fully carried out as the EU had not in essence accepted Turkey as an official candidate during this period. The EU has started to exert real ‘active leverage’ since Turkey was declared an official candidate in 1999, and the author explores how these conditions have exerted a positive influence on democratic consolidation in Turkey. However, its effectiveness in this regard has diminished to a significant extent due to a number of problems that have continued to remain central in EU-Turkey relations. This comprehensive analysis of Turkey-EU political relations and democratization places the case of Turkey within an international context. As such, it will be of interest not only to those studying Turkish politics, government and democracy, but anyone working in the area of international relations and the EU.

This book focuses on the AKP government since 2002 during which time the state’s approach to the Kurdish Question has undergone several changes. Examining what preceded and followed the failed putsch of 2016, it explains and critiques that situates the Kurdish Question in its broader context. It stands out with the main objective to avoid any ‘policy-oriented bias’ through an interdisciplinary and multi-thematic approach. The volume discusses the state and policies in the Kurdish region of Turkey, as well as counter-hegemonic discourses that seek to reform existing institutions. Some chapters focus on the domestic aspects and gender perspectives of the Kurdish Question in Turkey, which focus has been taken over by recent developments in Syria and the Middle East in general. Other chapters include a range of new aspects of Turkish society and politics, and the international aspects of Ankara’s policies and its implications not only inside Turkey but also internationally. Taking both domestic and foreign policy aspects into account, the book offers a set of innovative explanations for the state of crisis in Turkey and a solid basis for thinking about the likely path forward. Scholars, researchers and post-graduates, interested in political theory, Kurdish and Middle East politics will find this book invaluable.

Essay from the year 2023 in the subject Politics - Other International Politics Topics, , language: English, abstract: The aim of this essay is to explain the important implications of Turkey's accession to the EU and the resulting problems that lead to a delay in Turkey's accession to the EU. First, the essay provides a historical background to current EU-Turkey relations. On this basis, the process of Turkey's EU accession is then explained in more detail and the pros and cons arguments are discussed. This follows the examination of the meaning of Turkey's full EU membership and the possible implications in Europe. The focus is primarily on the common foreign and security policy, the possible economic effects, and the legal and institutional dimensions. The last part of the article analyzes why Turkey's candidature is so different from the other candidate countries and whether it is a problematic candidate. The decades-long delay in Turkey's EU accession is examined using the Copenhagen criteria set by the EU and cultural differences. The work concludes with a perspective view, forecasting future European-Turkish relations, whether Turkey will ever be a full member of the European Union. The essay ends with a constructive criticism in the conclusion. In addition, the present article intends to contribute to science and research by reviving the neglected European-Turkish relations currently and filling the gap in this field factually and professionally. In the present study, an interdisciplinary approach is preferred. The systematic interpretation method of law is combined with the method of empirical social research from political science to better analyze the complex context of the topic.

Turkey and the European Union makes a scholarly contribution to the debate over Turkey's participation in the European integration process and the EU's future enlargement. It explores the recent history of EU-Turkish relations and looks at the prospects and challenges that Turkey's membership presents to both the EU and Turkey.

The framework of Turkish foreign policy -- The defense aspect of Turkish foreign policy -- The Western connection of Turkish foreign policy -- The Eastern connection of Turkish foreign policy -- The Middle Eastern connection of Turkish foreign policy -- The Greek and Balkan connection of Turkish foreign policy -- The general appraisal of Turkish foreign policy -- Conclusion : the direction of Turkish foreign policy.