INVOLVING TURKEY IN EU COMMON FOREIGN, SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICIES

Year 2020, Volume: 2 Issue: 1, 7 - 27, 31.01.2020

Huseyin Bagcı Ugo Gaudıno

Abstract

The article investigates if there are some converging lines between Turkish foreign policy under the Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP) and the European Union (EU) common foreign, security and defense policies. Starting from an overall presentation of how Turkish main insecurity perceptions have so far shaped its foreign policy, we proceed to scrutinize the ambivalent attitude towards the EU which emerged during the AKP period. Despite the concerns raised by Neo-Ottomanism, Islamism and by the “Eurasian shift’, Turkey has provided a remarkable contribution to several Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) missions. Moreover, Turkey shares some of the same aims envisioned by the EU, such as the stabilization of Western Balkans. Therefore, we argue that there is already a common ground for a strategical involvement of Ankara in the future EU missions, for instance within the recent framework of Permanent and Structured Cooperation (PeSCo). Some Western Balkans countries (like Bosnia and Kosovo) would reap benefits from Turkish contribution, thanks to its historical and religious legitimacy.

Keywords

Turkey, EU, security, defense, NATO

References

• Acikalin, Suay N. and Bagci Huseyin (2015). From chaos to cosmos: Strategic Depth and Turkish foreign policy in Syria. In: Ercetin Sefika S. and Santo Banerjee (2013). Chaos, Complexity and Leadership, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
• Acikmese, Sinem A. and Dimitrios Triantaphyllou (2012). “The NATO–EU–Turkey Trilogy: the Impact of the Cyprus Conundrum”. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 12(4): 555-573.
• Altunisik, Meliha B. and Lenore G. Martin (2011). “Making Sense of Turkish Foreign Policy in the Middle East under AKP”. Turkish Studies 12(4): 572. Arkan, Zeynep and Muge Kinacioglu (2016). “Enabling ‘ambitious activism’: Davutoglu’s vision of a new foreign policy identity for Turkey”. Turkish Studies 17(3): 394.
• Aydin-Duzgit, Senem and Alper Kaliber (2016). “Encounters with Europe in an Era of Domestic and International Turmoil: Is Turkey a De-Europeanising Candidate Country?” South European Society and Politics 21(1): 1-14.
• Aydin-Duzgit, Senem and Alessandro Marrone (2018). “PESCO and Security Cooperation between the EU and Turkey”. Global Turkey in Europe Working Paper No. 19.
• Aydintasbas, Asli (2019). “From myth to reality: How to understand Turkey’s role in the Western Balkans”. European Council of Foreign Relations, Policy Paper, March 2019.
• Bagci, Huseyin (2008). Zeitgeist Global Politics and Turkey. Ankara: Orion.
• Bagci, Huseyin (2014). The Prospects for the Future Turkey-European Union Relations. In: Arntz Reiner, Michael Gehler and Mehmet T. Oncu, Die Turkei, der Deutsche Sprachraum und Europa (Turkey, the German-speaking area and Europe) Vienna - Koln - Weimar: Bohlau Verlag.
• Bagci, Huseyin and Saban Kardas (2004). Exploring Turkey’s role in peace operations: Towards a framework of analysis. Contemporary Issues in International Politics: Essays in Honour of Seyfi Tashan. Foreign Policy Institute. Ankara.
• Bagci, Huseyin and Caglar Kurc (2017). “Turkey’s strategic choice: buy or make weapons?” Defense Studies 17(1): 38-62.
• Baskan, Birol (2018). “Islamism and Turkey’s foreign policy during the Arab Spring”. Turkish Studies 19(2): 269-272.
• Bilgehan, Burak O. and Nebahat Tanriverdi Y. (2018). “Populism and foreign policy in Turkey under the AKP rule”. Turkish Studies 19(2): 209.
• Bilgin, Pinar (2004). “Return to ‘Civilizational Geopolitics’ in the Mediterranean? Changing Geopolitical Images of the European Union and Turkey in the Post-Cold War Era”. Geopolitics 9(2): 269-291.
• Bilgin, Pinar (2007). “Making Turkey’s Transformation Possible: Claiming ‘Security‐ speak’—not Desecuritization!” Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 7(4): 565-566.
• Bilgin, Pinar (2010). Security dimension. A clash of security cultures? Differences between Turkey and the European Union revisited. In: Armagan Emre Cakir (eds.). Fifty Years of EU-Turkey Relations A Sisyphean Story. Routledge. London: New York.
• Bilgin, Pinar and Ali Bilgic (2011). “Turkey's "New" Foreign Policy toward Eurasia”. Eurasian Geography and Economics 52(2): 173-195.
• Bilgin, Pinar and Ali Bilgic (2012). “Turkey and EU/rope: Discourses of Inspiration/Anxiety in Turkey’s Foreign Policy”. Review of European Studies 3(4): 111-124.
• Blockmans, Steven (2010). “Participation of Turkey in the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy: Kingmaker or Trojan Horse?” Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, Working Paper 41.
• Bosman, Femke, Joseph Soeters and Fatima Ait Bari (2008). “Dutch Muslim Soldiers during Peace Operations in Muslim Societies”. International Peacekeeping 15(5): 695-705.
• Bostan, Yahya (2019). “A European Army in northern Syria?” Daily Sabah. 17.02.2019.
• Cebeci, Munevver (2011). Issues in EU and US foreign policy. Lexington. Lanham: MD.
• Cinar, Menderes (2018). “Turkey’s ‘Western’ or ‘Muslim’ identity and the AKP’s civilizational discourse”. Turkish Studies 19(2): 188-189.
• Davutoglu, Ahmet (2001). Stratejik Derinlik: Turkiye’nin Uluslararasi Konumu (Strategic Depth: Turkey's International Position). Istanbul: Kure.
• Davutoglu, Ahmet (2011). Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu IV. Speech at the Balkan Congress Center of Trakya University on the occasion of the Ambassadors' Conference, Edirne, 29.12.2011.
• Demir, Ismail (2018). Turkey-Italy Defense Industry Cooperation. In: Defense Turkey 88(13): 5.
• Dikici, Hasret B. (2008). “Foreign Policy Orientation of Turkey’s Pro‐Islamist Parties: A Comparative Study of the AKP and Refah”. Turkish Studies 9(3): 409.
• Ertugrul, Kursad and Yilmaz Oznur A. (2018). “The Otherness of Turkey in European Integration”. Turkish Studies 19(4): 1-23.
• Global Humanitarian Assistance Report (2018). p. 38. Available: http://devinit.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/GHA-Report-2018.pdf.
• Gole, Nilufer (1997). “Secularism and Islamism in Turkey: The Making of Elites and Counter-Elites”. Middle East Journal 1(51): 46-58.
• Gorener, Aylin S. and Ucal Meltem S. (2011). “The Personality and Leadership Style of Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Implications for Turkish Foreign Policy”. Turkish Studies 12(3): 357-381.
• Haas, Mark (2012). The clash of ideologies: Middle Eastern Politics and American Security. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Imai, Kohei (2018). The possibility and limit of liberal middle power policies. Turkish foreign policy toward the Middle East during the AKP period (2005-2011). Lanham, MD: Lexington.
• International Crisis Group (2011). Turkey and Greece. Time to settle the Aegean dispute. Europe Briefing No. 64, Istanbul-Athens-Brussels. Available: https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/western-europemediterranean/turkey/turkey-and-greece-time-settle-aegean-dispute.
• Jorgensen, Knud E. (2016). Foreign and security policy. A case of the politics of alignment. In: Aylin Guney and Ali Tekin. The Europeanization of Turkish Public Policies: A scorecard. London: Routledge.
• Jung, Dietrich (2008). “Secularism”. A key to Turkish politics? In: Jung, Dietrich and Raudvere, Catharina. Religion, Politics, and Turkey’s EU Accession. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Kadir Has University (2017). KHAS Public Perceptions on Turkish Foreign Policy Research 2017. Kadir Has University. Istanbul, quoted in Senyuva, Ozgehan (2018). Turkish public opinion and the EU membership: between support and mistrust.
• Kaliber, Alper (2005). “Securing the Ground through Securitized ‘Foreign’ Policy: The Cyprus Case”. Security Dialogue 36(3): 319-337.
• Kamrava, Mehran (2012). “The Arab Spring and the Saudi-led counterrevolution”. Orbis No. 56: 196-104.
• Kaya, Ayhan (2015). “Islamization of Turkey under the AKP Rule: Empowering Family, Faith and Charity”. South European Society and Politics 20(1): 47-69.
• Kaya, Ayhan (2018). “Right-wing populism and Islamophobism in Europe and their impact on Turkey–EU relations”. Turkish Studies 21(1): 1-28.
• Kirisci, Kemal (2008). Religion as an argument in the debate on Turkish-EU membership. In: Dietrich Jung and Catharina Raudvere. Religion, Politics, and Turkey’s EU Accession (2008). London: Palgrave Mcmillan.
• Leuffen, Dirk, Berthold Rittberger and Franck Schimmelfennig (2012). Differentiated Integration: Explaining Variation in the European Union. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Martin, Natalie (2015). Security and the Turkey–EU Accession Process. Norms, Reforms and the Cyprus Issue. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Muftuler-Bac, Meltem (2017). “Turkey's future with the European Union: an alternative model of differentiated integration”. Turkish Studies 18(3): 416-438.
• Oktem, Kerem (2012). “Global Diyanet and multiple networks: Turkey’s new presence in the Balkans”. Journal of Muslims in Europe. 1(1): 27-58.
• Oktem, Onur (2016). Water politics and political culture. Turkey’s compatibility with the European Union. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
• Onis, Ziya (2014). “Turkey and the Arab Revolutions: Boundaries of Regional Power Influence in a Turbulent Middle East”. Mediterranean Politics 19(2): 203-219.
• Ozkan, Behlul (2014). “Turkey, Davutoglu and the Idea of Pan-Islamism”. Survival 56(4): 119-140.
• Ozpek and Yasar (2018). “Populism and foreign policy in Turkey under the AKP rule”. Turkish Studies 19(2): 1-19.
• Ozturk, Ahmet E. and Istar Gozaydin (2018). “A Frame for Turkey’s Foreign Policy via the Diyanet in the Balkans”. Journal of Muslims in Europe 7(3): 331-350.
• Ozturk, Ahmet E. and Istar Gozaydin (2018). “A Frame for Turkey’s Foreign Policy via the Diyanet in the Balkans”. Journal of Muslims in Europe 7(3): 331-350. PESCO (2019). For a comprehensive list of the projects. Available: https://pesco.europa.eu/.
• Phinnemore, David and Erhan Icener (2016). “Holding the door half open: the EU and Turkey 10 years on”. Journal of Contemporary European Studies 24(4): 446-462.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey (2019). Press Release Regarding the Joint Declaration Adopted at the Sixth MED7 Summit. No. 170. Available: http://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_170_-altinci-med7-zirvesinde-kabul-edilen-ortak-bildiri-hk.en.mfa.
• Robins, Philip (1991). Turkey and the Middle East. New York: Council of Foreign Relations Press.
• Robins, Philip (2003). Suits and Uniforms: Turkish Foreign Policy since the Cold War. University of Seattle: Washington Press.
• Saracoglu, Cenk and Demirkol, Ozhan (2015). “Nationalism and Foreign Policy Discourse in Turkey Under the AKP Rule: Geography, History and National Identity”. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 42(3): 301-319.
• Senyuva, Ozgehan (2018). Turkish public opinion and the EU membership: between support and mistrust. FEUTURE Online paper No. 26, p. 7.
• Soeters, Joseph, Erhan Tanercan, Kadir Varoglu and Unsal Sigri (2004). “Turkish–Dutch encounters in peace operations”. International Peacekeeping 11(2): 354-368.
• Somer, Murat (2016). “Understanding Turkey’s democratic breakdown: old vs. new and indigenous vs. global authoritarianism”. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 16(4): 481-503.
• Tagliapietra, Simone (2018). “A new strategy for EU-Turkey Energy Cooperation”. Turkish Policy Quarterly 17(3): 111-126.
• Talbot, Valeria (eds.) (2018). Turkey: towards a Eurasian shift? Italian Institute for International political Sciences (ISPI). Milan: Ledizioni Ledi Publishing.
• Tardy, Thierry (2014). “CSDP: getting third States on board. European Union Institute for Security Studies”. Brief Issue No. 6. p. 1.
• Terzi, Ozlem (2010). The influence of the European Union on Turkish foreign policy. Ashgate. Surrey. p.61.
• Unal, Dervis Fikret (2017). Turkey’s relations with Israel in the 2000’s: a constructivist perspective. Ankara: Astana Yayinlari.
• Ustun, Cigdem (2010). Turkey and European Security Defense Policy. Compatibility and Security Cultures in a globalized world. London: IB Tauris. p. 96.
• Ustun, Cigdem (2016). Turkey’s Policies in Its Overlapping Neighbourhood with Russia and the European Union. In: Remi Piet and Licínia Simão. Security in Shared Neighborhoods Foreign Policy of Russia, Turkey and the EU. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• WEU Council of Ministers (1992). Petersberg Declaration, Bonn, p. 10.
• Yalcinkaya, Haldun, Emre Hatipoglu, Acar Arikan D. and Mitat Celikpala (2018). Turkish Efforts in Peacekeeping and the Introduction of the TUBAKOV Dataset: An Exploratory Analysis. International Peacekeeping 25(4): 475-496.
• Yavuz, M. Hakan (2018). “A Framework for Understanding the Intra-Islamist Conflict between the AK Party and the Gulen Movement”. Politics, Religion and Ideology 19(1): 26-27.
• Yavuz, M. Hakan (2003). Islamic political identity in Turkey. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Yavuz, M. Hakan (2019). Understanding Turkish secularism in the 21st century: a contextual roadmap, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies. pp. 17-20.
• Yildiz, Ayselin G. (2016). The EU's immigration policy. Managing migration in Turkey and Morocco. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.