Turkey's EU Accession. Implications, Challenges, and Prospects for the Future

Essay from the year 2023 in the subject Politics - Other International Politics Topics, , language: English, abstract: The aim of this essay is to explain the important implications of Turkey's accession to the EU and the resulting problems that lead to a delay in Turkey's accession to the EU. First, the essay provides a historical background to current EU-Turkey relations. On this basis, the process of Turkey's EU accession is then explained in more detail and the pros and cons arguments are discussed. This follows the examination of the meaning of Turkey's full EU membership and the possible implications in Europe. The focus is primarily on the common foreign and security policy, the possible economic effects, and the legal and institutional dimensions. The last part of the article analyzes why Turkey's candidature is so different from the other candidate countries and whether it is a problematic candidate. The decades-long delay in Turkey's EU accession is examined using the Copenhagen criteria set by the EU and cultural differences. The work concludes with a perspective view, forecasting future European-Turkish relations, whether Turkey will ever be a full member of the European Union. The essay ends with a constructive criticism in the conclusion. In addition, the present article intends to contribute to science and research by reviving the neglected European-Turkish relations currently and filling the gap in this field factually and professionally. In the present study, an interdisciplinary approach is preferred. The systematic interpretation method of law is combined with the method of empirical social research from political science to better analyze the complex context of the topic.