@article{article_1774, title={THE ENLARGEMENT POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND ITS LINK WITH THE EXTERNAL DIMENSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THE TURKISH CASE}, journal={Marmara Üniversitesi Avrupa Araştırmaları Enstitüsü Avrupa Araştırmaları Dergisi}, volume={5}, pages={179–198}, year={1997}, DOI={10.29228/mjes.326}, author={Nas, Çiğdem}, abstract={<div class="page" title="Page 1"> <div class="layoutArea"> <div class="column"> <p> <span>One </span> <span>of </span> <span>the </span> <span>primary </span> <span>themes which occupies the agenda </span> <span>of </span> <span>the European Union is the issue </span> <span>of </span> <span>enlargement. </span> <span>After </span> <span>the accession </span> <span>of </span> <span>Austria, Finland, and Sweden in 1995, the Union is faced with the task </span> <span>of </span> <span>making </span> <span>a </span> <span>decision concerning the member- ship </span> <span>of </span> <span>applicant Central, Eastern, and Southern European countries. Following, the conclusion </span> <span>of </span> <span>the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference, the enlargement negotiations with Cyprus and </span> <span>possibly </span> <span>Poland, Hungary, </span> <span>and </span> <span>the Czech Republic, are due to start. (i.e. Malta withdrew its application following the change </span> <span>of </span> <span>government in the </span> <span>general </span> <span>electrions </span> <span>of </span> <span>26.1 0.1996). In this context, Turkey occupies </span> <span>a </span> <span>unique position. It con- </span> <span>cluded </span> <span>an association agreement with the European Community in 1963 which is much </span> <span>earlier </span> <span>than the other applicant countries. However, especially </span> <span>after </span> <span>1989, Tur- key has fallen </span> <span>behind </span> <span>in the </span> <span>list of potential </span> <span>members to the Union. While the acces- sion </span> <span>of </span> <span>Cyprus, </span> <span>and </span> <span>the Central and Eastern European Countries is only </span> <span>a </span> <span>matter </span> <span>of </span> <span>time, Turkey’s membership does not seem likely to happen. One </span> <span>of </span> <span>the main argu- ments </span> <span>put </span> <span>forth against the Turkish application is Turkey’s </span> <span>poor </span> <span>human rights record. In this context, the article tries to explore the significance </span> <span>of </span> <span>human rights considera- tions in the European Union’s enlargement process by way </span> <span>of </span> <span>referring to the conclu- sions </span> <span>of </span> <span>the European Council meetings, and attempts </span> <span>at </span> <span>stressing the importance </span> <span>of </span> <span>improving the human rights situation in Turkey in order to develop Turkey-European  </span>Union relations.  </p> </div> </div> </div>}, number={1&2}, publisher={Marmara Üniversitesi}