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An Analysis Of The Turkey-EU Relations In The 21st Century

Posted on:2009-04-12Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Z Y ShiFull Text:PDF
GTID:2166360245962437Subject:International politics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
As a secular muslin country, Turkish governments have been taking"Turkey's integration into Europe"as a basic national policy. Centered on the problem of Turkish accession to the EU, the history of Turkey-EU relations has covered half a century, with the Association Agreement signed in the Cold War era between Turkey and the European Economic Community (EEC), a candidate country status of Turkey granted by EU in 1997 and the accession negotiations between EU and Turkey in October 2005. The issue that whether Turkey would be a full member of EU has great influence on international geopolitical structure, on the development of EU, and on the relations between Islamic countries and the West. Therefore, it is a topic with practical significance to study the Turkey-EU relations in the 21st century.The EU's commencement of accession negotiations with Turkey in October 2005 represents a watershed in Turkish-EU relations. However, the Christian and conservative parties in Germany, France and Austria put forth an alternative scenario for Turkish full membership, namely a Privileged Partnership. The debate concerning Turkey's readiness for membership and the alternative to full membership is gaining renewed significance despite the start of negotiations. Therefore, the paper focuses on the issue of the Turkey-EU relations in the 21st century.The paper begins with the introduction about the realistic significance to study the issue of the Turkey-EU relations, current study situation both at home and abroad, the idea and framework, and the research methods. That follows the text, divided into four parts altogether.The first part gives an overview of the Turkey-EU relations, dated back to the Association Agreement in 1963. By reference to the history, it illuminates a dominant feature of Turkey's relationship with the EU.In the second part, the article will examine the scenario of the Privileged Partnership, alternative to EU"full membership". It first analyses the background about introducing the Privileged Partnership, then reveals the purpose of proposing this scenario and points out the impact made by the Privileged Partnership, especially on EU itself. This part concludes that the Privileged Partnership cannot replace EU"full membership"pursued by Turkey. The third part will offer a further elaboration of the practical possibilities of Turkey's full membership, on the basis of interests related to both Turkey and EU.In the fourth part, the paper discusses Turkey's accession negotiation and the prospect of the development of Turkey-EU relations. The accession negotiations with Turkey differ from previous ones, with an open-ended process which relates to a series of unresolved sensitive political issues. Besides, it indicates that the referendum will be likely to influence Turkey's accession process. From this point, the Turkish accession road will still be rough.The conclusion, the last section of this paper, points out that Turkey should insist on carrying out reforms and conquer the difficulties in the path of Turkish accession to the EU. With Turks great efforts, Turkey will win the hearts of the EU. Along with EU's urgent strategy demand for Turkey, Turkish accession to EU is not a dream any longer.
Keywords/Search Tags:Turkey, EU, Privileged Partnership, Full Membership
PDF Full Text Request
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