EUROPEANIZATION OF TURKEY’S RELATIONS WITH GREECE

Year 2021, Volume: 1 Issue: 2, 111 - 129, 28.12.2021

Ufuk Alkan

Abstract

The Europeanization of Turkey’s relations with Greece is significant in that it exemplifies to some extent the way the EU has influenced Turkish Foreign Policy, especially after the 1999 Helsinki European Council. It is also illustrative of the rational instrumentality underlying Turkey’s Europeanization. Therefore, it is argued in the article that Turkey has been consistently instrumental in its approach to the Europeanization of its relations with Greece. In this respect, the main research question concerns Turkey’s relations with Greece and its impact on EU-Turkey relations. To this end, the Europeanization framework is applied to understand and explain how EU conditionality helps EU member states achieve their national interests. As a matter of fact, what the EU obliges Turkey to fulfil before its accession is decided unanimously by its member states. The member states of the EU have the opportunity to shape the conditions set out by the EU for fulfilment by Turkey through conditionality. Therefore, it is concluded in the article that for the advancement of relations with the EU, Turkey needs to improve relations with member states.

Keywords

Europeanization, Turkish-Greek Relations, Turkish Foreign Policy, Aegean Dispute

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