TURKEY’S APPROACH TOWARDS THE EU: VIEWS FROM WITHIN

Abstract

Even a cursory view of different Turkish perceptions of the European Economic Community EEC , or as it later became, the European Community EC and then the European Union EU , reveals quite different opinions and positions amongst Turkish political parties, labor unions and trade and business associations at different periods of time. On one side, one can notice the attitude of moderate circles, which regarded association and accession as the continuation of the traditional westernization drive of the modern Turkish state, even while they also found words of criticism for the association. On the other, the extreme left and right both considered the EEC as a power strange to Turkish culture and rejected it vehemently. After the military intervention of 12 September 1980, most political parties and interest groups increasingly linked Turkey’s EC membership to the protection and stabilization of Turkish democracy. The reasons for this were the domestic political consequences of military intervention democracy and human rights , and developments with regard to foreign policy especially regional re-Islamizing tendencies . Although the negotiation process for the Customs Union was criticized by most Turkish opinion-makers, the furthering of the integration process with the EU was mainly welcomed. Voices of criticism from the Islamic right fell increasingly. The reasons for changes in some points of view will be analyzed in this paper.

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