Turkey: identity, foreign policy, and socialization in a post-enlargement Europe

Abstract

This article analyzes the implications of post-enlargement European international society for Turkey in three areas: identity construction, foreign policy and political reform. First, through an analysis of post-2007 European Parliament debates on EU-Turkey relations, it argues that the construction of European and Turkish identities vis-à-vis each other is likely to remain an important arena of contestation. Second, it provides a brief overview of Turkey's new regional foreign policy activism, and argues the recent initiatives are in fact signs of adaptation to a post-enlargement Europe, as they are building on a foreign policy role conception that stresses Turkey's hybrid identity as both European and Asian, and Western and Islamic. Finally, it analyzes the diffusion of the norms of European international society to Turkey in the post-2007 period, in particular focusing on the critical role played by domestic political actors. While Turkish political actors are showing signs of adaptation in terms of how they utilize the political opportunity structures in post-enlargement Europe, the weakening of Turkey's EU membership prospects is likely to slow down the diffusion of European norms to Turkey.