EU Enlargement Between Political Conditionality and Cultural Compatibility as Exemplified by the Debate on Turkey in Europe

In view of the opening of EU membership negotiations with Turkey on 3 October 2005, this text deals with the debates on the country’s accession to the Union conducted to date both in the European countries and in Turkey itself. The main point of reference are the concepts of European identity that can be derived from the European and Turkish debates. A distinction is made between two lines of argument: on the one hand, the aspect of Turkey’s ‘cultural compatibility’ and, on the other, the aspect of ‘political conditionality’. Some problems that may arise from this both for the future of Europe and for Turkey’s future accession are examined. An additional excursus briefly outlines the peculiarities of the Greek perspective on Turkey’s EU membership. Despite the decision to open accession negotiations with Turkey at the EU Summit in Brussels on 16/17 December 2004 and the beginning of negotiations on 3 October 2005, Turkey’s further integration into European structures seems more uncertain than ever. This is due not only to the fact that the outcome of the Turkey-EU negotiation process is open-ended in principle, as stated explicitly in the relevant conclusions of the Brussels European Council, which also formulated a series of safeguard clauses and preliminary conclusions (cf. Council of the European Union, Brussels, 16/17 December 2004, Presidency Conclusions, Brussels, 17 December 2004, 16238/04). This process is more uncertain than ever above all because, in the context of the European political and public debates, Turkey’s integration is viewed as an issue that far transcends the hitherto enlargement process and has significant implications for the future of European consolidation. This sceptical attitude has grown even more since the rejection of the European Constitution by France and the Netherlands, and the decision to suspend the ratification process in EU Member States for one year. Meanwhile, it appears that both with regard to the enlargement process and institution-building, some things in the Union are out of control and that the EU is faced with an unprecedented challenge. In the context of all these current events however, it is not the purpose of this paper to discuss possible solutions or even less to define normative principles of European identity in view of Turkey’s future accession. Based on the observation that the prospect of Turkey’s accession to the EU has generated a process of self-determination in European societies while bringing a new dynamic to the process of Turkey’s adjustment to the EU, this text seeks to elucidate relevant aspects of the country’s further integration from the European and Turkish points of view, to look at their implications, and to identify the points of intersection of what is ‘European’ in the relevant discourses. The approach used in this text is the following: the first part summarises the arguments for and against Turkey’s EU accession and identifies the basic self-