The Republican People's Party and Turkey's EU Membership

Abstract

As the founder of the Turkish secular state, the Republican People's Party (CHP) has defended the Westernisation of Turkish society, supported Turkey's acceptance to the EU as a full member, and played crucial roles in Turkey–EU relations. Nevertheless, the CHP's language towards the EU started to sound critical during the 2000s. This study argues that the CHP's seeming scepticism towards the EU is not an ideological U-turn, but a conditional situation. The CHP's Euroscepticism is an outcome of its distrust of the Justice and Development Party government's honesty and ability in implementing the required reforms for Turkey's EU membership.