Turkey as a Partner and Challenge for European Security

Institutes:

Center for International and European Studies (CIES) at Kadir Has University (Istanbul),
Institute of International Relations (IIR) at Panteion University (Athens), 
International Relations Council of Turkey (IRCT)

Project Members:

Dimitrios Triantaphyllou, CIES
Constantinos Filis, IIR
Mustafa Aydin, IRCT

Project Duration: Jul 2020 – Dec 2021

Contact:

Mustafa Aydin, email: maydin@khas.edu.tr 

The state of play in EU–Turkey relations leading up to the start of this project reflected the state of the international order. While the de jure framework for relations between the EU and Turkey was the accession process, whereby Turkey had been a candidate for accession to the European Union since 2005 (although its candidature remained frozen), the transactional nature of the world order, as well as economic, social and political crises within a number of European states, had led to a significant crisis of trust between Turkey, the EU and its member states.

There had also been systemic factors at play that over time had complicated the relationship: Turkey had been implementing more autonomous foreign and security policies with its 'self-help' doctrine, whereas the EU had been propounding the need to be more geopolitical at a time when key member states had either called for a strategic partnership with Turkey or a revamping of the accession process. Hence, the issue of Turkey as both a partner and a challenge for European security was an acute one.

There was a growing divergence as the security agenda and challenges were accelerating. From the impact of Brexit to increased migration flows, the unresolved Cyprus issue, Eastern Mediterranean hydrocarbons, the delimitation of maritime boundaries in both the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, the civil wars in Libya and Syria and their ramifications, and divergent approaches to dealing with Russia and to a functional relationship between the EU and NATO—the security context was wide, varied and in need of cooperative policies and mechanisms. Thus, the project brought together experts in foreign policy, security, the EU and Turkey with policy experience, a record of academic excellence and a history of collaborative efforts, who addressed the topic at hand from the perspectives of the EU, Turkey and Greece—a mid-sized EU member state with a geography directly adjoining Turkey.

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