European Union – Turkey: Conflict Partnership

Abstract

Over the past two years (2018-2020), Turkish leadership has demonstrated the increasing rigidity of its foreign policy. This occurs both on diplomatic platforms and through military intervention in conflicts near the Turkish borders (in Syria, Iraq, Libya, in the Eastern Mediterranean, in the South Caucasus). The entourage of R.T. Erdogan openly declares his readiness to defend his interests, affirming a new role for Turkey in the regions geographically adjacent to the European Union. As a result of this policy, tensions in Ankara's relations with Brussels are noticeably increasing, both within the framework of the North Alliance (NATO) and in relation to Turkey's partnership agreements with the EU. The article emphasizes that the Turkish leadership, nevertheless, tries not to cross the "red lines" indicated by Brussels, which allows it to maintain the formal framework of partnership with the EU, despite the growing potential for conflict between the parties. The author of the article concludes that today a new model of interaction is being formed in relations between Ankara and Brussels when the consequences of the internal political transformation in Turkey begin to influence the mechanism of NATO's functioning and its partnership with the EU. K