Turkish “Foreign Policy” Towards the European Union Under AK Party Rule: From “Europeanization” to the “Alliance of Civilizations”

This study applies poststructuralist foreign policy analysis in Turkey's relationswith the EU. It argues that in order to enervate the existing hegemony in the domesticrealm, the AK Party put the objective of integration with the EU at the top of its foreignpolicy agenda in its early years. However, as the existing hegemony weakened, the AKParty has launched its project of constructing a conservative society. In order to achievethis goal, it has gradually engaged in re-articulating Turkey's relations with the EU aroundthe theme of the alliance of civilizations and also pushed back EU integration process inits foreign policy agenda. The secular and liberal sectors of society have argued that thischange derails Turkey from the “civilizing” process and undercutting democratization.The leaders of AK Party, in response, assert that Turkey's goal for EU membership is stillon the table but with a caveat: it is not integration with the civilization; it is rather relationsamong civilizations.