Open AccessTURKEY-EUROPEAN UNION RELATIONS DURING THE TIMES OF CRISIS AND PREDICTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE
Author(s) -
Sinem Abka
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
elm və innovativ texnologiyalar
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2616-4418
pISSN - 2521-1447
DOI - 10.30546/2616-4418.bitd.2021.22
Subject(s) - summit , european union , negotiation , politics , political science , customs union , turkish , economy , international relations , single market , international trade , political economy , economics , geography , law , linguistics , philosophy , physical geography
Turkish Republic has always been a west-oriented country since its establishment in 1923.In this regard the membership application to the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1959was a direct consequence of the desire to take part in the Western alliances. Despite the mutualwillingness of the two parties the bilateral relations did not progress rapidly due to the politicalproblems Turkey had to struggle as well as the further integration prospects of the EEC. Theprogress was inally achieved in the late 1990s after the EEC was transformed into the EuropeanUnion (EU) which turned to be a political community with its own single market. Turkey wasinally granted candidate status at the Helsinki Summit of 1999 where Turkey was obliged tomeet the Copenhagen criteria and to harmonize its policies with the acquis communautaire ofthe EU. Despite the initiation of the negotiations in 3 October 2005 the bilateral relations havealmost been suspended due to the internal political dynamics of the two parties as well as theinternational conjuncture. The main target of this study is to make a prediction about the futuredevelopments of Turkey-EU relations during the 2020s which are foreseen as the times of crisis.Accordingly, the study offers that although the EU would not be able to guarantee full membershipfor Turkey in the upcoming years, the bilateral relations would not be expected to be suspendeddue to the interdependence in the areas of energy, security and economy. Methodologically thestudy applies on the secondary resources to overview Turkey-EU relations during the times ofcrisis in history and depending on the existing literature makes a prediction about the possiblescenarios which the bilateral relations could be re-formulated.