Browsing by Subject "European integration"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Open Access
The European Union and Turkey in the realm of the common foreign and security policy
(2002) Kayaoğlu, Barın
This thesis analyzes the European Union’s common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and Turkey’s relation with the EU in this respect. It is argued that the European Union has come a long way from being a mere trade club to an economic and political fulcrum. It started as a mere administrative body to oversee the common market on steel and coal, and in less than half a century has become a complicated network where the members have pooled significant portions of their sovereignty in order to reap the common benefits of that pool. In this respect, the European Union is in motion towards establishing a common foreign and security policy and it is the outcome of this motion that is going to determine the EU’s political significance in the following years. Moreover, Turkey’s EU journey can be looked at from a much unattended CFSP perspective; is Turkey’s prospects for membership strengthened by Turkey’s strategic importance or is Turkey’s volatile proximity a handicap?
Open Access
The Europeanization process and Kurdish nationalism in Turkey: the case of the Democratic Society Party
(Cambridge University Press, 2012) Saylan, İ.
This study aims at analyzing the impact of the European integration process on Kurdish nationalism in Turkey by focusing on the Democratic Society Party (Demokratik Toplum Partisi, DTP) as the major pro-Kurdish political party in Turkey between 2005 and 2009. It argues that the Europeanization process in Turkey, which accelerated in the post-Helsinki period, has brought about some important consequences concerning the recognition and expression of Kurdish identity. The study examines Europe's impact on the DTP through analysis of party documents and interviews with party representatives, in order to investigate the meaning and use of the European integration process in the DTP's sub-state nationalist ideology. This analysis shows that, although the Europeanization process in Turkey has somewhat broadened opportunity structures for Kurdish sub-state nationalist politics, overall the EU's impact on the DTP's nationalist politics has remained indirect and limited. © 2012 Association for the Study of Nationalities.
Open Access
Social democratic parties and European integration : the case of the Turkish Republican People's Party
(2013) Türker, Gülce
This thesis analyses the attitudes and behaviour of the Republican People’s Party towards European integration and Turkey’s European Union membership process. It aims to contribute to the literature by investigating the relation of social democratic parties vis-à-vis European integration. The main inquiry is how and under what conditions the Republican People’s Party as a social democratic party, shapes its position towards European integration. The study argues that the Republican People’s Party has been a historically a pro-European political party, however due to conditional situations, it has been a soft Eurosceptical party after 2002.
Open Access
Sub-state nationalism within European integration process : a comparative study of Scottish, Basque and Kurdish cases
(2011) Saylan, İbrahim
Scholarly works have paid little attention to the impact of European integration on Kurdish sub-state nationalism in Turkey, either as a case study or in comparison with sub-state nationalisms in other European countries. At the same time, many studies on sub-state nationalism have put too much emphasis on the ‘transformative’ impact of integration processes on sub-state nationalisms, especially in the Western European context. This study seeks to overcome both shortcomings through a comparative analysis of the Kurdish, Scottish and Basque cases. It is intended not only to contribute to our understanding of each case within the broader dynamics of European integration but also to provide further empirical evidence for a more generalizable understanding of the ongoing evolution of sub-state nationalism within the European integration process. Thus, the broader goal of this dissertation is to understand the impact of the European integration process on sub-state nationalism. Conceived as an arena in which different forms of nationalism challenge and reinforce each other, the European integration process is claimed to have had a significant impact on the sub-state nationalism. In order to assess the nature and extent of these impacts, this study first focuses on the emergence and development of sub-state nationalism in the national context. Adopting the political approach to nationalism, the emergence and development of sub-state nationalism is explained on the basis of the conflict of identity and interests. An opportunity structure-based analytical framework is used to focus on the resources for, and constraints on sub-state nationalist activity in its uneasy relationship with its host-state. The opportunity structure approach is then operationalized in order to examine the impact of European integration on the Scottish, Basque and Kurdish cases. As major political representatives of the nationalist ‘cause’ in their respective ‘homelands’, Scottish National Party (SNP), Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV) and Demokratik Toplum Partisi (DTP) are analyzed in terms of their emergence, development and how they have changed in response to European integration. The empirical findings show that all of these parties support European integration since they consider that the integration process broadens the opportunity structures available to themselves. Both the transformation of the nation-state and the emergence of new channels for regional influence that have also been utilized by sub-state nationalist forces provide these parties with new opportunities. This study shows that the impact of European integration on these parties in terms of their identity construction, ideologies, goals and strategies vary for a number of reasons. Essentially, compared with the SNP and the PNV, the EU’s impact on the DTP has been indirect and limited. It is possible to draw several general conclusions about these cases. First of all, these parties primarily see the EU as an external support system in their competition with their host states. Second, there is no reason to see the EU and sub-state nationalists as natural allies. While the EU does not intentionally encourage sub-state nationalist activism, sub-state nationalist support for European integration is a calculated element of nationalist politics. Third, support for the integration process does not necessarily mean that the ultimate political goals of sub-state nationalist parties have been transformed into aspiring to something less than independent statehood. The British and Spanish cases show that democratic accommodation of ethno-political demands not only leads to the institutionalization of various ethnic groups but also supports the development of dual identities. Nonetheless, it would be unrealistic to expect that devolutionary processes or EU membership will bring an end to sub-state nationalist aspirations. Nationalism, as a form of politics, is not made obsolete by EU integration processes. Rather, the latter reshape the interaction between sub-state nationalist political parties and their host states within new circumstances.
Open Access
Turkey and the ‘Maghrebization’ of the European economic community: the 1978 suspension of the association agreement
(Routledge, 2021-02-09) Ozansoy, Arda
Many scholars blame Turkish politicians for the country's suspension of its Association Agreement with the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1978. Some have argued that rising Turkish anti-Westernism caused the agreement to fail; others maintain that Prime Minister Ecevit's protectionist government derailed it. Such perspectives overlook the role played by concrete economic issues. The ‘Maghrebization’ of the Association, agricultural affairs, and the situation of Turkish workers in Europe decreased the economic desirability of the Association for Turkey. EEC correspondence, which has not yet been used by other scholars, demonstrates that the EEC was cognizant of the worsening terms of the Association but decided not to revise the conditions despite repeated protests from Turkey. This article argues that the 1978 suspension of the EEC-Turkey Association Agreement was not the result of the initiative of a purportedly anti-Western or erratic Ecevit government. Instead, the article highlights the declining economic benefits of the Association for Turkey.