Domestic politics, international norms and challenges to the state: Turkey-EU Relations in the post-Helsinki era

Abstract

Potential European Union (EU) membership creates both conditions and incentives, constituting a powerful engine of democratization and economic transformation in candidate countries in the process. If the mix of conditions and incentives is inappropriate, however, and the emphasis is primarily on conditions or “negative incentives,” this will tend to slow down the process of domestic political change in the candidate country. It will also help to strengthen those groups both within and outside the state who are likely to oppose democratic opening as well as the loss of sovereignty in certain key areas of policy that eventual EU membership naturally entails. Whilst an external anchor, such as potential EU membership, constitutes a powerful driving force for change, the primary impetus for change, nonetheless, needs to originate from domestic actors. Within this broad perspective, the present contribution attempts to provide a critical investigation of Turkey-EU relations in the post-Helsinki era.