The impact of Turkey's neighbourhood relations on its European Union membership application

Abstract

Since the late 20th century, Turkey has been trying to maintain a European Union relationship. In fact, it was one of the first countries to seek membership. It first applied for an Association Agreement in 1959 which paved the path to the Ankara agreement of 1963. However, from there onwards, the Turkey-EU relationship has faced problems several times. Nevertheless, by 1999 Turkey managed to secure its long-sought candidacy. Unfortunately, negotiations failed to commence immediately since Turkey still had to abide with the EU's political criteria. In 2002 Turkey had a change of government which supported a pro European ideology. The winning party, the AK, sought to improve Europeanization in Turkey. This empowered the Union to finally open accession negotiations with Turkey by 2005. Twelve long years have passed since the EU has opened accession negotiations with Turkey. Sadly, Ankara still struggles in its quest for a successful accession. There are several obstacles that are stalling Turkey's accession to the European Union. The main ones are the historical Turkish and anti-Muslim prejudice, military coupes and their adverse effects, neighbourhood challenges, human rights, and the Kurdish issue. Moreover, other potential obstacles include more pressure on the EU labour market. This thesis outlines how exactly Turkey's neighbourhood relationship with Cyprus and Armenia are making its EU membership negotiations more difficult. In order to do so, EU institutions' statements and reports are analyzed to support the hypothesis. In addition, official statements from actors such as prime ministers and other ministers are quoted to further outline the significance of the issue. Nonetheless, several scholars are also mentioned to continue strengthen the research.