Turkish “foreign policy” towards the european union

Özet

\r\n This study applies poststructuralist foreign policy analysis in Turkey’s relations\r\n with the EU. It argues that in order to enervate the existing hegemony in the domestic realm, the AK Party put the objective of integration with the EU at the top of its foreign policy agenda in its early years. However, as the existing hegemony weakened, the AK Party has launched its project of constructing a conservative society. In order to achieve this goal, it has gradually engaged in re-articulating Turkey’s relations with the EU around the theme of the alliance of civilizations and also pushed back EU integration process in its foreign policy agenda. The secular and liberal sectors of society have argued that this change derails Turkey from the “civilizing” process and undercutting democratization. The leaders of AK Party, in response, assert that Turkey’s goal for EU membership is still on the table but with a caveat: it is not integration with the civilization; it is rather relations among civilizations.\r\n