A Lost Opportunity? A Critique of the EU's Human Rights Policy Towards Turkey

Abstract

This article analyses the development of the European Union's human rights policy towards Turkey and compares the EU's approaches to similar political issues in other applicant countries. It argues that the policy towards Turkey has been inconsistent, determined to a large extent by an EU policy preference for containment, designed to delay (not to reject) Turkey's membership while keeping Ankara within the economic, security and political sphere of influence of the EU. Thus, the degree of EU human rights conditionality has been less visible in relation to developing the EU-Turkey Association, while it has been too rigid over the issue of Turkish membership. A second contention is that there has been inconsistency also between the democratization motivation behind the EU's enlargement policy towards the central and eastern European countries (CEECs) and its policy vis-à-vis Turkey. The latter has lacked a clear accession commitment and policy instrument to persuade Turkey to undertake the necessary political reforms required to fulfil the accession criteria. Thus, the EU has been less effective at influencing policy developments in Turkey than it might have been, had it pursued an alternative policy.