It Takes Two: A Crisis of Identity and Turkey\u27s Rejection of the European Union

Abstract

It Takes Two: A Crisis of Identity and Turkey\u27s Rejection of the European Union explores Turkish-European Union (EU) relations over time through the lens of accession. With the suspension of eight of the thirty-five chapters of Turkish accession in 2006- effectively hindering any semblance of productive negotiations, this thesis seeks to understand if, and how, Turkish sentiment shifted in relation to EU accession prior to and following this event. I conducted a textual analysis of primary and secondary sources and examined Turkish public opinion from the years 2000 to 2013. I found that there was a discernable process of de-Europeanization that occurred after the EU\u27s rejection of Turkish accession. This result is then discussed through the lens of topics such as populism, neo-Ottomanism, conditionality, xenophobia, and crises of identity and legitimacy

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