The European Union and Turkey in the realm of the common foreign and security policy

Abstract

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?