EUROPEAN STUDIES IN TURKEY: PRESENT STATE (2004) AND PROPOSALS A RE-PRESENTATION TWO TEARS LATER ...WITH SOME REGRETS AND AUSPICES

This paper attempts to analyse the findings of the 2004 report on the recent state of European studies in Turkey as an area of increasing academic interest in various Turkish universities and other public and private institutions. It outlines the process in which the profile of EU studies has undergone changes in terms of both scholarly publications and teaching activities from the early 1990s to the present, most notably in the aftermath of the 1999 Helsinki European Council which declared Turkey's candidacy. Its n ı ain argument is that even though the existing state of European studies in Turkey at the time of writing up the report could be deemed adequate both in quality and in quantity for a non-negotiating candidate country, the necessity of further diversification and specialisation in this field of undergraduate and postgraduate curricula has undeniably becoıne more apparent since the opening of accession talks with Turkey. In view of this fact it concludes with a deeply critical overview of Turkey's little progress towards implen ı enting the propositions of the report about how to strengthen the European studies.