Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
UACES 45th Annual Conference, Exchanging Ideas on Europe, Bilbao, İspanya, 7 - 09 Eylül 2015
Turkey is considered an exceptional case for
many observers of EU enlargement. It is the longest-standing EU candidate; its
European identity is contested; and the final destination of its EU journey is
still far from certain. In power since 2002, the Justice and Development (AK)
Party, an exceptional case in Turkish political history with debates and crises
surrounding its identity and performance, has dominated the shaping of Turkey’s
recent European policy. It first made its mark with the opening of accession
negotiations. Since then, its enthusiasm for Europeanism has waned due to the
snail-paced accession negotiations and vocal opposition in the EU to Turkish
membership as well as the AK Party’s own increased self-confidence. Recently,
the AK Party has attracted widespread domestic and international criticism for
slowing down the reform process and its ‘illiberal turn’. This has triggered
further debates about alternatives to Turkey’s EU membership. Placing
developments within the context of the transformation of the AK Party’s
conservative identity, the paper analyses change and continuity in the AK
Party’s discourse on Turkey’s European policy and questions its commitment to
Turkey’s EU membership. It traces and explains the party’s transition from a
pro-EU ‘Europeanism’ to a ‘Eurorealism’ criticising ‘Eurocentrism’ and focusing
on critical integration with the EU as one part of a multidimensional foreign
policy.