|
|
|
Turkey – European Union Relations: Dilemmas, Opportunities, and Constraints |
|
reviewed by Bart Tieben |
|
|
Author: Müftüler-Bac and Yannis A. Stivachtis |
ISBN:
978-0739124475 |
|
Publisher:
Lexington Books |
Page:
335 |
|
Type:
Paperback |
Price:
$ 75 |
|
|
|
Review: |
European Union-Turkey relations have been an important issue on both sides’ political agenda for over fifty years. In order to understand the history, the current situation, and the possible future of Turkey’s unique accession process, a large number of authors have been trying to contribute to this topic. Melmet Müftüler-Baç and Yannis A. Stivachtis selected papers that were used in the ATINER international conferences on politics and international affairs in order to form their work, Turkey-European Union Relations, Dilemmas, Opportunities, and Constraints. One of the authors, Melmet Müftüler-Baç, is a professor of international relations at Sabanci University in Turkey, with a Ph.D. in political Science and international relations. Yannis A. Stivachtis is the director of the International Studies Program at Virginia Tech and head of the Politics and International Affairs Research Unit at the Athens Institute for Education and Research. Their work is divided into three sections, namely: Dilemmas in EU-Turkish Relations, Opportunities and Constraints in Turkey-European Union Relations, and EU-Turkey Accession Negotiations: A Comparative Perspective. The aim of the authors is to examine the political background of the EU-Turkey enlargement negotiations and assess the current strengths and weaknesses in clearing the path towards Turkey’s EU membership. I will evaluate the book on the three goals of the authors to explain the political background of the negotiations, the current perspectives on them, and the future prospects for Turkey’s bid towards membership in the European Union. What is important to know is that the articles of the book were written when the deadlock in EU-Turkey negotiations was not as hopeless as it is today. Therefore the book has a more positive view of the future of EU-Turkey accession negotiations than most of the literature that is currently published.
The first section of the book mainly focuses on the history of Europe and the Ottoman Empire, and later the relations between the Republic of Turkey and the European Union. In the first chapter, the views of Europe on Turkey and vice versa are analyzed and the focus lies on Christianity versus Islam, occidentalism versus orientalism, and “the fact that ‘the Turk’ has played – and still plays – an important role as the ‘other’ in the European self-definition” (p. 35).
The second chapter analyzes the European view – and their decisions – on Turkey's EU membership bid. The concept of organized hypocrisy is explained within the context of European actors giving positive signals for membership to Turkey while their decisions implement the opposite. According to the author, Turkey’s EU bid is going through a struggle due to European fear that including Turkey will lead to a different European identity. The third chapter focuses on the influence of security on Turkey-EU relations. The author explains that the decline in EU-Turkey relations after the Cold War began because Turkey’s protection against communism was no longer needed. Also the current vision regarding security is analyzed, implying the EU will need Turkey’s geo-strategic position, regional influence, and experienced army in order to become a major actor in foreign politics. Furthermore, the Europeanization of Turkish foreign and security policy is analyzed. The hope that Turkish accession will tackle the argument that Islam and the West are destined to clash forever is expressed.
The final chapter of the first section explains the reasons for the United States putting pressure on Turkey’s accession (for its own national interest) as well as the growing importance of the strategic implications of Turkey’s EU membership. The author argues that the final decision on Turkey’s accession will lie with the Europeans’ ability to overcome cultural differences instead of economic or political reasons.
The second section focuses on opportunities and constraints in European-Turkish relations. This section is composed of seven chapters. The first two chapters give an overview of the negotiations up until 2008 where points such as the Cyprus problem, the Helsinki Summit, and the Turkish reforms are addressed. Furthermore, the positive views of Turkish citizens on EU membership are compared to the more negative view of European citizens. There are three main pillars that need to be overcome, namely: psychological barriers, technological difficulties, and political problems.
The third and fourth chapters elaborate on the political problem of the Cyprus question. Whereas the third chapter focuses on the position of Greece and Cyprus regarding Turkey and the Cyprus question, the fourth chapter focuses on the Cyprus question within Turkish politics and thus Turkish political parties as well. The fifth chapter analyzes the view of three different Turkish newspapers on Turkey-EU relations. The concluding remarks of the author are that the longer the negotiations between Turkey and the EU last, the more the public will be influenced by the media instead of having an objective outlook on the matter. The sixth chapter starts with a brief overview of the consequences of accepting or rejecting Turkish membership in the European Union. They argue that the accession procedure for Turkey takes longer than other candidate states due to its culture, Muslim society, and large population. The economic troubles that Turkey still has to overcome are addressed in the seventh chapter. There is an unstable macroeconomic structure. Turkey therefore needs to work on developing its agriculture, liberalization, and market system. Furthermore, the role of the state in the economy should decrease and its income distribution should be more equal.
The last part of the book deals with the ongoing negotiations between Turkey and the European Union by making a comparison between those negotiations and negotiations between other countries and the European Union. First, a comparison between Greece and Turkey during their accession negotiations is described in the first chapter. Although there are many similarities between the two countries’ accession negotiations, the difference lies in the periods that they were held. Whereas Greece was able to join in a timeframe where the identity of Europe was not an issue, Turkey has to cope with the ongoing debate of what Europe is. Another conclusion can be drawn after the comparison between Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania in the second chapter. The reason why Turkey did not join the EU in contrast to Bulgaria and Romania lies in four factors, namely: the Cyprus question, the Kurdish issue, the role of the military in politics, and again the ability of the EU to absorb Turkey. The final chapter of the book explains the role of the military in Greece and Turkey in relation to EU accession. The two nations followed a similar line until 1970. The Greek citizens’ support for military interventions disappeared, followed by a declining role for the military and an expansion in democracy. Turkey on the other hand still had the majority of the public supporting its military’s latest intervention in 1980, which illustrates why there was no decline in the role of the military in politics.
The book has made a clear and organized overview of the political background of EU-Turkey relations, the current strengths and weaknesses in Turkey’s bid towards EU membership, and has compared the case of Turkey with other nations in order to give an overview of Turkey’s position in 2008. The book gives an outline of which issues are responsible for the difficult and slow negotiations. Furthermore, the problem with fourteen different articles is that there is a wide area of information that is mentioned several times in different articles. For example, the history of Turkey-EU relations and the fact that Europe seems uncertain if it can absorb Turkey are explained several times. As for the authors’’ first objective – examining the political background of the EU-Turkey enlargement negotiations – they have accomplished it by creating a clear and detailed overview of the history and political relations regarding the EU-Turkey accession negotiations. Their second objective – assessing the current strengths and weaknesses in clearing a path towards Turkey’s EU membership – has not been completely addressed in my opinion.
Unfortunately, the solutions the book provided are not very helpful. They merely underline the areas that need to be improved such as the development of a more stable economy or the importance of a decline in the role of the military. They highlight which area’s solutions must be found, but there are no real suggestions on how these solutions should take form. All together, the book has useful views on EU-Turkey relations in almost every possible area. The current situation and problems that need to be addressed are well explained, and the underlying concepts such as the identity of Europe and the still existing worldview of “the West versus the others” are explained. Furthermore, the work gives a good overview of Turkish domestic views on EU membership and that of the European Union’s. The book is – partly because the articles are three years old – not extremely useful in finding solutions for current problems. In order to gain an updated view on EU-Turkey relations, it is advisable to focus on articles concerning the foreign policy of the AKP after 2008, and to examine the works of scholars that elaborate on the perspectives of the European Union regarding Turkey’s membership and their recommendations on the matter.
|
|
|
about book: |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Being an
intellectual platform for social sciences, JTW contributes to
this area by promoting new publications in its Book Reviews
section. Publishers can send newly published books to be
reviewed to this section’s
editor. Or else, book reviews are
also welcomed by JTW.
For More Information |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
