Thorny relations with the EU under AK Party rule: Challenges and prospects.

• Author: Teksen, Faruk
• Position: ARTICLE

ABSTRACT Turkey-EU relations have historical significance in terms of politics, societal structures along with the longevity of Turkey's EU accession process. The relationship between them should not be seen as one in which the EU requires and Turkey fulfills accordingly. A multi-dimensional and reciprocal approach is necessary to evaluate the flow of relations rather than short-term or daily political ups and downs. This paper analyzes the relationship between Turkey and the EU under successive AK Party governments in chronological order, along with political and social reflections by focusing on the main turning points and considering the development of relations in the long-run of politics.

Introduction

Relations between Turkey and the European Union (EU) have faced many highs and lows since Turkey's initial application to the European Economic Community in 1959. Therefore, in order to understand certain vicissitudes in Turkey's EU membership process under successive AK Party governments, it is necessary to take into account both historical and reciprocal perceptions of the relations between these two. In order to build a comprehensive understanding, it is necessary to base the discussion on the fact that, Turkey-EU relations should be seen as dynamic and reciprocal in the flow of history. Both sides have faced dramatic social, economic and political changes with regard to the internal dynamics or developments that have taken place at the international level. Moving towards more specific objectives, the first AK Party government defined full membership to the EU as its strategic goal in the area of foreign policy.

In the first years of AK Party government, the full membership of Cyprus to the EU and changes in heads of governments in Germany and France might be seen as factors that created a negative impact on Turkey's EU accession process. On the one hand, AK Party governments tried to pursue relations with the EU, while on the other paving the way for the establishment of regional peace and economic development inside Turkey. The pro-active diplomacy followed by AK Party governments later caused arguments about whether there was an axis-shift in Turkey's foreign policy proceeding along with the Neo-Ottomanism discussions.

Additionally, 2011 was one of the milestones, not just in the relationship between Turkey and EU, but also at the regional and international levels. The so-called Arab Spring did not bring stability and democratization to the countries in North Africa and the Middle East. While Turkey faced serious security and political crises, it was believed that it did not get enough support from the EU member states in its backing of the democratization and freedom demands of the Muslim Brotherhood, especially in Egypt. Another turning point in the relations of Turkey and the EU was the coup attempt that took place on July 15, 2016. Regarding the post-failed coup process, there is a huge gap between Turkey and EU about the perception of the coup attempt. While Turkey considers itself legitimate in fighting against members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), (1) the EU prioritizes protection of basic rights and freedoms along with respect to the rule of law. It should also be noted that the rise of far-right parties and excessive discourses have started to damage the core values of the EU while creating obstacles over Turkey's accession initiatives.

This paper intends to examine Turkey-EU relations under AK Party governments with an emphasis on significance of continuity of relations instead of domination of daily politics. Continuity of relations is useful to define the relationship between Turkey and EU especially if structural differences such as identity, culture and religion are taken into consideration. In this sense, under AK Party governments, political and economic stability in domestic affairs paved the way for determination in foreign policy making processes while policy preferences in the EU have varied with the changes in the heads of governments. However, prioritizing the importance of continuity of relations between Turkey and EU, the historical and structural ties provide comprehensive outcomes. This paper claims that even though Turkey started accession talks in 2005 and faced serious challenges in the following years, such as deceleration in accession talks, reforms, the EU membership of Cyprus, changing heads of governments in Germany and France, crises emerged in the aftermath of Arab Spring along with refugee crisis and coup attempt in July 15, 2016, under AK Party governments the continuity of identical, structural and cultural differences play a more determinant role than the shortterm volatile changing dynamics. Therefore, in the first part, background of Turkey-EU relations and the significance of Europeanization for the first AK Party government will be discussed. In the second part of the work, the influence of government changes in Germany and France and the EU membership of Cyprus on Turkey's EU accession processes are examined along with blocked chapters. In the third part, the place of Turkey's pro-active foreign policy preferences in the light of "axis shift and neo-Ottomanism" debates, Arab Spring with refugee crises and the July 15, 2016 failed coup in Turkey are analyzed in order to draw a framework for Turkey-EU relations under the current AK Party government.

Turkey's EU Path: Dynamic and Reciprocal Process

In order to understand the flow of Turkey's path to becoming a member of the EU, there are certain points to be taken into consideration. It is necessary to underline that the EU membership process should not be seen as simply one side demanding and other fulfilling. Therefore, (i) neither Turkey nor EU have static structures, (ii) Turkey and the EU relations are reciprocal, not one-sided. (2) Turkey and EU relations are more than a process created by the involvement of two sides. Since the population of Turkey is 99 percent Muslim with a Muslim populated hinterland, Turkey's EU path becomes more significant in terms of structure and characteristics. On the other hand, the EU has 28 member states, and every single one has its own internal and foreign policy preferences along with strong historical ties among themselves and the other global actors such as the U.S. Thus, from Turkey's perspective being a member of the EU might mean broadening its ties but at the same time it presents a challenge for the different cultural norms and values. When it comes to the perspective of the EU, Turkey's membership directly addresses internal challenges that the EU has been facing such as a multi-cultural society and peaceful coexistence with no more extremist or populist discourses.

Considering geographic positions, Turkey borders with the EU but at the same time has long borders with the Middle East and Caucasus. Therefore, the identity, ethnicity, religion and way of thinking of people in Turkey and the EU might differ from one to another. The EU has been facing serious structural crises based on its established values such as combining different cultural identities under an umbrella with peaceful coexistence. Turkey also has been facing several problems such as the flow of migrants, terror attacks and a coup attempt against the democratically elected president and government. Briefly, Turkey-EU relations require dynamic understanding in order to understand the forty-year history and to frame possible future alternatives. In order to avoid over-generalization of the problem in defining Turkey-EU relations, it is necessary to have a multi-dimensional understanding to evaluate historical and current developments. Failing to do this would only result in baseless and endless discussions.

Regarding today's EU member states it is necessary to underline that members have religious and identical affinity with clearly defined economic and political common interests among themselves. When it comes to the position of the EU regarding Turkey's membership, the issue directly addresses internal debates such as enlargement fatigue, rise of rightist populist discourses and fiscal problems especially after the 2008 global economic crisis. Therefore, with regard to the relationship between Turkey and the EU, it is necessary to point out that the EU should not be seen as the one that perpetually lectures and Turkey is the one that sits in the position of student but rather that both sides can contribute to the future vision of each other.

Background of Turkey-EU Relations

Since 1959 Turkey has been on one of the longest tracks to becoming a member of the EU starting with the application for association to the European Economic Community. Turkey's EU journey officially started with the signing of the Ankara Agreement (The Association Agreement) with the European Economic Community in 1963 and continued until its application for full membership in 1987. The Ankara Agreement was believed to be beneficial for both sides with Turkey and European Economic Community establishing a customs union which would pave the way for full membership in the following process. Relations between Turkey and European Community were de facto suspended by requirement of the European Parliament due to an interruption of the democratization process following the coup, which took place on September 12, 1980. (3) Towards the end of 1980's the democratic environment in Turkey started to be restored and Turkey applied for full membership to the European Community in 1987. However, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the position of Turkey was about to be redefined since one of the major threats to Europe "expansion of Communism" collapsed. Although the so called transition period of Turkey was completed with the Customs Union Agreement in 1995 after twenty-two years from the initial application, Turkey was not mentioned among the candidate countries at the...