The De-Europeanization of the Kurdish Question in Turkey and the EU

Abstract

ABSTRACT Using an in-depth interview method, this study examined HDP deputies’ thoughts concerning Turkey–EU relations, its effect on Kurdish issues, and the HDP’s expectations of the EU, showing that the high expectations of the EU during the 1990s and early 2000s have faded and that the EU accession process no longer generates enthusiasm among the HDP deputies interviewed. The most notable finding of the interviews was the consensus that the EU has now lost its role as the driving force for Turkey’s democratization and, moreover, that the EU has ignored Turkey’s authoritarianism by remaining silent on AKP’s disobedience of the Copenhagen criteria and non-compliance with international agreements. The interviewees believed that the EU has become an accomplice of the AKP regime by indirectly supporting Erdoğan’s authoritarianism. Both the EU and Turkey’s loss of faith in Turkey’s full membership have caused the EU to lose its transformative power, encouraging the AKP government to more confidently jettison the values of democracy and human rights. Moreover, the recent developments in the Middle East, particularly the emergence of a Kurdish entity in Syria and Iraq, have resulted in a redirection of Kurdish attention towards the Middle East.