Turkey - European Union relations could never gain stability, though they never came to a point of collapse. However, one should refrain from criticizing the parties unilaterally and superficially while assessing the difficulties. The basic reason why the relations could not have reached a satisfactory level is the change in the ob- jective conditions and preferences and intentions of the parties which occurred as time passed. Turkey's practices in the economic and political spheres and its schizo- phrenic EU policies have affected the relations as well as the negative attitude of the EU, created by its internal evolution, towards Turkey.