Difficult partnership: Turkey – EU. Chances, aspirations and barriers

Abstract

The article deals with the admission of Turkey into the structures of the European Union, as a country located in only a small part in Europe but at the same time constituting a strategic location from the point of view of EU security. The time frame of the analysis made here basically covers the whole period of accession negotiations, but due to the length of the negotiations, only the most important elements will be emphasised (beginning of the accession process, its subsequent stages, problems). The aim of the article is to point out the opportunities and barriers to this accession, whose vision moves away because of Turkey’s deepening political crisis triggered by president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The main thesis of the article is the statement that the negotiation process, which started years ago, was inhibited and slowed down as a result of subsequent events taking place both in the EU (migration crisis) and in Turkey itself (military coup of 2016). The author wants to answer two questions: (1) what problems, over the years of accession negotiations, proved to be insurmountable in this process? and (2) what prospects for Turkey’s accession are drawn on the basis of the current positions of both negotiating parties? Empirics in this case must be based on an analysis of the history of the Turkish accession process and the most current media reports (mainly on the 2016 coup)