Turkey And Intra European Rejection Of Turkey

Since 1950 European Union (EU) was created it has promoted peace, prosperity and values among the member nations and its neighbouring countries. EU’s influential tools, has helped transform many European states into functioning democracies and prosperous countries. EU’s membership has grown from 6 to 28 countries (Enlargement, 2014), satisfying a historic vow to integrate the continent bringing in most states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by peaceful ideals.EU has anticipated the enlargement as an extraordinary opportunity to endorse political strength and economic success in Europe. EU’s extension policy is open to any European state that fulfils the EU’s political and financial criteria for membership; still the political process of inclusion of new state requires a unanimous agreement from all the existing 28 member states. Europe is considered to be more flourishing and safer place due to the promotion of democracy, anti-corruption policy and the single market policy.

Summary: A closed think-tank meeting held JUL17 in German, has identified the Western Balkans as the next crisis area as Turkey and Russia continue to promote instability within the region. The group identified three areas, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia, as potential targets of Russian and Turkish supported annexation by Serbia and Albania. Despite Turkey’s suspicions of Russia, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is cooperating more closely with President Vladimir Putin and is now seen by many NATO members as becoming a NINO (NATO in Name Only) power.

The relationship between the United States and Turkey since the 1991 Gulf War can be described as a ?you scratch my back I?ll scratch yours? situation.? Turkey still plays a crucial role in U.S. foreign policy; however, the relationship has been strained during the interwar years.? According to Michelle Ciarrocca, the U.S. needs to treat modern Turkey as a part of the ?New Europe? (ibid).? ?New Europe? includes the members of NATO in the eastern parts of Europe (ibid).? This area is becoming increasingly important to the U.S. because of its strategic location near both the Middle East and Russia (ibid).? For this reason, The United States has struggled to build a working relationship with Turkey.? However, this relationship is not always ideal for both

However, the state of the contemporary relationship has been unstable through events and the rising anti-American sentiment among Turkish citizens. Despite the U.S. support to Turkey for the security of the Middle East region and the corresponding benefits through the bilateral cooperation, the two countries have currently been through several controversies.

I have been waiting for the Arch Duke Ferdinand moment, the one conflict that spark the fires or war. In my estimation, Turkey’s actions against Russia may as well be that moment. The words of Otto von Bismarck still ring true to this day “ One day the great European War will come out some damned foolish thing the Balkans”.

With the end of the Cold War fundamental changes had happened in the international relations. Having lost the imposed by the Soviet Union principles of managing a state and, essentially, the political ideology, countries needed to redefine their identities in order to fit into the world of Western democracies. The process of identity reconsideration entails the profound change in a state’s self-interests which in turn affects its behavior. ’ The changes of identities pulled into its orbit Poland, Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia. These countries, as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed, commenced the process of integration with the European community. Their previous identities of pro-communist states changed

if the country entered the EU today, they would be the second largest member state behind Germany. This would mean an immediate shift of power in almost every EU establishment, more especially the European Parliament where seats are circulated to member states giving to the population. Turkey would instantaneously become a key player in European policymaking and would have more power than the usual core countries, France, Italy, and etc. Even if we don't consider anything else, it's logical that Europeans would be suspicious of a membership that would expressively alter the EU's partisan and demographic map, and Turkey's enormous population is often cited as the key political intention the country's succession progression is under such thick

In its relative dark history Turkey, has come a long way. Overcoming its continuing struggle with its Muslim dominance, to becoming a powerful democratic Muslim state. Seeking full membership into the European Union (EU) to be a first Muslim EU state, and a member of NATO. With the country being part of not only Europe, it also shares geopolitical aspects with Asia and the Middle East, Mediterranean and Balkans. While trying to bring modern values to an elected Islamist government.

With our continuing interest in the Middle East and Russia’s recent action in Crimea, Turkey has become one of the most important allies to the western world. However, their recent actions suggest that turkey is moving away from the west. Now that Turkey is starting to thrive independently, the west is no longer as appealing. Under the leadership of its current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it is clear that Turkey is focusing more on its self-interest in the Middle East. Erdogan is a devout Muslim with a fundamentalist past who, now that he is in power, has cemented his role by dismantling the checks and balances of the Turkish political system. With public backing and changing economic condition that favor Turkey, Erdogan has been able to steer Turkey away from its secularist roots and away from western influence.

Turkey, a relatively new nation, is not new to internal conflict and the oppression of minorities. Wedged between Europe and the Middle East, the area occupied by Turkey has long served as a crossroads between these areas, and, as a result, Turkey's majority Islamic Arab populace is smattered with significant pockets of minorities. These religious and ethnic minorities have been the source of much controversy in Turkey, but now change appears to be on the horizon. As Turkey seeks the approval of the European Union, it has begun to implement impressive humanitarian reforms that should drastically improve the plight of the minorities that call the nation home.

Established as a Cold War-era counterweight to Soviet power, NATO is characterized by its “commitment to democratic values and practices that, along with its unique, integrated military structure, sustains it even at times when its members’ short-term strategic calculations diverge.” (Hunter) In theory, then, the bonds between the United States and Europe should be close and enduring. Indeed, the interests of the two entities have largely converged throughout NATO’s half century history despite occasional differences.

The European Union has stated that 5 out of 72 benchmarks still were required to satisfy the criteria for the visa liberalization roadmap. The main of which relates to Turkey’s anti-terror laws, which have been used to restrain and imprison journalists and other critics of the Turkish President, rather than dealing with legitimate terrorism cases. Furthermore, the Turkish government's unwillingness to progress in the accession negotiations has been further displayed by the proposed constitutional reform. The EU has stated that the enactment of the aforementioned constitutional amendments, would come into direct contradiction with the Copenhagen political criteria for EU membership. As a consequence, the European Union will be required to suspend the accession negotiations with

The European Union’s role in the international sphere, as well as the aim to improve its external actions, have been considered to be the two most important features of the Lisbon Treaty. Within the Lisbon Treaty, the combination of the provisions on mutual assistance and solidarity created new pressures on member states to assist one another in cases of armed attacks, disasters being it natural or man-made and crisis on EU territory.

The literature on the Eastern expansion of the EU is dominated by studies seeking to identify the overall expectations of candidates and the motives for established states to approve or reject applicants. Consistent with the Copenhagen criteria, the predominant theoretical perception is that attitudes towards democracy and capitalism in candidate states determine EU membership and can reasonably be connected to a smoother and faster accession process (Christin 2005; Cichowski 2000; De Witte 2002; Delsoldato 2002; Fish 2005; Hellman 2004; Plumper, Schneider, and Troegerv 2006; Nissen 2003; Tucker, Pacek, and Berinsky 2002). The literature also links EU expansion to increase in tensions between established and

I have always wondered about the affairs between states and political strategies the states apply to determine their relations. My interest and curiosity in affairs between states and their designated policies to determine their affairs became more obvious when I was at high school. I started to read about political history, specifically; political history of Europe between 16th – 20th centuries. Events like Thirty Years War, Treaty of Westphalia, French Revolution, First and Second World Wars in Europe, which shaped today’s international system in many ways, developed my interest in International Politics and their effects to the societies. Throughout high school years, In addition to my readings on European political history; my country, Turkey’s foreign policy influenced me to study on it. Turkey’s geostrategic position is unique and worthy to study. By security perspective, economically and politically stable Turkey is vital for the stability of the Middle East and Caucasus. Also important for the security of EU. By economic point of view, developing energy projects such as; TANAP (Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project), which will be passing through Turkey and existing energy projects such as; Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which is passing through Turkey, are important for energy distribution to Europe. Furthermore, Turkey can play an important role to enhance commercial and economic