Turkey’s EU Quest and Political Cleavages under AKP

Ali Rahigh-Aghsan

doi:10.5539/res.v3n1p43

Abstract

This article analyses the extent to which the rise of political Islam (Note 1) in Turkey has triggered an intense and polarized debate about the principle eligibility of Turkey to be a full European Union (EU) member state. The Justice and Development Party’s (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi-AKP) election victories in 2002 and 2007 have been considered to be a serious obstacle to Turkish EU accession. This article argues that even if the AKP government were able to meet the objective criteria of the EU acquis, European opposition to Turkish accession would persist for two main reasons: (1) The overall political targets of political Islam in Turkey seems less compatible with the traditional Turkish EU quest than formerly (2) The Turkish political Islamic turnaround is contributing to a climate of increasing scepticism in Europe, and presents significant obstacles to EU accession. As a result, ‘privileged partnership’ seems to represent a new pragmatic synthesis of Realpolitik that both Ankara and Brussels should reconsider.

Highlights

Turkey- European Union (EU) scholars concur that since the AKP government’s second term, the impetus behind the domestic reform process specified by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 and the accession negotiation framework of 2005 has dramatically declined
This article argues that even if the AKP government were able to meet the objective criteria of the EU acquis, European opposition to Turkish accession would persist for two main reasons: (1) The overall political targets of political Islam in Turkey seems less compatible with the traditional Turkish EU quest than formerly (2) The Turkish political Islamic turnaround is contributing to a climate of increasing scepticism in Europe, and presents significant obstacles to EU accession
The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons for, and consequences of, the loss of enthusiasm for Europeanization and domestic reforms, notably in the AKP government’s second term

Summary

Introduction

Turkey- EU scholars concur that since the AKP government’s second term, the impetus behind the domestic reform process specified by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 and the accession negotiation framework of 2005 has dramatically declined. When the AKP came to power in 2002, it took “unexpected steps to compromise with the Kemalist establishment to maintain its domestic and international legitimacy” (Yavuz 2009:10) Scholars who espouse this view consider that the recent political Islamic movement in Turkey “runs on a platform of unabashed and unconditional pursuit of EU membership despite its Islamist pedigree” (Özel 2008:57). I conclude by returning to my argument that a ‘privileged partnership’ may represent a new pragmatic Realpolitik synthesis of that both Ankara and Brussels should reconsider

How reliable is the Turkish quest for EU entry?

Geographical and geopolitical arguments

Turkish otherness and accession

From absorption capacity to integration capacity

Findings

Conclusion