As the former French President and Chair of the Convention on the Future of Europe. In an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde in November 2002, a month before the Copenhagen summit of the European Council, that was expected to take a decision regarding the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey, d’Estaing said that admitting Turkey ‘would be the end of the European Union’, because Turkey ‘has a different culture, a different approach, a different way of life … Its capital is not in Europe, 95 percent of its population live outside Europe, it is not a European country.’11 This line of argumentation can be found, more recently, in statements made by the new French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, during the 2007 election campaign:
“Turkey is not a European country, and as such she does not have a place inside the European Union. A Europe without borders would be the death of the great idea of political Europe. A Europe without borders is to condemn her to become a subregion of the United Nations. I simply do not accept it.”
In this regard,we can ask ourselves what is the EU discourse,What criterias they would like to affirm in commitment to join the Union ? Political,economic and social conditions proposed by EU acquis are sufficient in the process of the transformation of the countries to EU members?Before deeping into the non-concrete functions that are supposed to be implemented by EU,we should focus on the timetable on the way of EU.
Timeline of Application Throughout the Republic History
Turkey-EU relations has started with Turkey’s co-operation application for joining European Economic Community(EEC) in 31 July 1959.After the application was approved,two signed decided to operate and signed Ankara Treaty in 1963.Following years,due to the chaotic situation that Turkey had been experiencing caused undesirable development concerning the application (Communist ropagandas of 70s,right-left conflict,the Coup D’eat in 1980).
When the shadowy political position has started to flow away,Turkey has applied for a full-membership during Özal’s presidency.Nevertheless following that development,EU has declared that it is not possible to approve the application due to the regional issues concerning the breakdown of Soviet Union and new nation-states engendered by Soviets in Eastern Europe.Until that time,the major consideration about Turkey’s membership was economic.It was requested that the associate members have to satisfy the liberal economy and free-market conditions in order to Access EU.By 1993 Copenhagen criteria which is declared that in order to Access to the Union,countries should satisfy economic,social and political conditions of EU introduced to check out whether the country is eligible to join EU.
[1]K. B. Richburg, ‘Giscard declares Turkey too “different” to join EU’, Washington Post Foreign Service, 9 November 2002. Available online at ,http://www.washingtonpost.
[2]N. Sarkozy, ‘Je veux que l’Europe change’, Official Web Site of the UMP, 21 February 2007. Available online at ,http://www.u-m-p.org/site/index.php/ump/s_informer/discours/ je_veux_que_l_europe_change..
Those criterias require that a state has institutions to preserve democratic governments and human rights,protect minority rights and run market economy(so any Soviet country cannot become a member in this respect).
In accordance with the conclusions of the Copenhagen European Council in 1993, the Union’s capacity to absorb Turkey, while maintaining the momentum of European integration is an important consideration in the general interest of both the Union and Turkey. The Commission shall monitor this capacity during the negotiations, encompassing the whole range of issues set out in its October 2004 paper on issues arising from Turkey’s membership perspective, in order to inform an assessment by the Council as to whether this condition of membership has been met.[3]
Throughout 1990s,Turkey has started to take initiatives, more importantly after 1995 the process was accelerated.In 1999,Helsinki Council,the membership status of Turkey is legitimized by EU.Within the accession negotiations that gained momentum particularly after 2002 elections,the declaration introduced to the public which argues that Turkey is ready to fulfill Copenhagen criterias.Till 2008 Worl bank crisis,negotiations gathered momentum,whenever the government felt its electoral power and picked up the signal about the weaknesses of Western economic conditions,it has started to evolve through authoritarian type of governance.
Why Turkey had Failed?
While respecting the Copenhagen criteria, there are still some so-called“paradoxes” that challenge the Turkey-EU negotiation process.
- The Cyprus issue
- Infringement of human rights
- Protection of minority groups in practice
- Stabilization of the economy
- Lucassen, L. (2006) Poles and Turks in the Gereman Ruhr Area: Similarities and Differences, pp. 27-45
- Collet, Elizabeth (2017) The Paradox of the EU-Turkey Refugee Deal https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/paradox-eu-turkey-refugee-deal
- European Stability Initiative (2015) The devil in the detail Why the EU-Turkey deal will fail and how to get to a deal that works
(http://www.esiweb.org/rumeliobserver/2015/11/29/the-devil-in-the-detail-eu-turkey-refugee-summit-in-november-2015/) - European Stability Inititative (2018) Refugees and asylum in the Aegean: The impact of the EU-Turkey statement
Turkish Policy Upheavals 