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Conceptualizing Europeanness and European Politics: Issues of Turkey’s Compatibility

Received: 30 July 2018     Accepted: 24 August 2018     Published: 17 September 2018
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Abstract

The current paper aims to describe aspects of the debate regarding Turkey’s compatibility with how Europeanness is conceptualized. It is hereby questioned: How is Europe conceptualized? What’s the role of history towards such conceptualizations? Which are the parameters of Europeanness? And finally, is Turkey part of Europe? These questions are found at the core of the overall problematique concerning Turkey’s bid for access into the European Union (EU) and westernization process, in general. No matter how general they are, the questions refer to a certain philosophical debate which is extended to political and strategic aspects of the future of Europe as well as the future of Turkey in it. Ankara’s bid for EU membership and the ongoing negotiations are identified with this extension from philosophy to politics and strategy. On this line of thought, the current paper examines the concept of Europeanness in correlation with Turkish identity and ends to examine practical issues with regard to the EU-Turkey continuing dialogue. With reference to significant bibliography, the whole series of stakes is presented as well as the overall rhetoric legitimizing Turkey’s historical westernization inclinations. Therefore, the concluding remarks are related to all the practical aspects setting questions regarding Turkey’s access to the EU, keeping in mind that the EU nature is absolutely different to the strategic priorities of Ankara and its policy-making practices. For this reason, with one phrase, the conclusion could be ‘compatibility under conditions’ beyond any historical and philosophical references, since the anti-hegemonic nature of the EU structure is clearly incompatible to a grand strategy of economic projects manipulation for political purposes and treaties revision under an aggressive argumentation of Ottoman-like domination. As far as the EU value system is still valid and it is diffused into politics and the framework within European Great Powers are organized, hegemony matters and it is avoidable.

Published in Journal of Political Science and International Relations (Volume 1, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.jpsir.20180102.14
Page(s) 49-54
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Turkey, European Union, Foreign Policy, Hegemonism, Europeanness

References
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    Markos Troulis. (2018). Conceptualizing Europeanness and European Politics: Issues of Turkey’s Compatibility. Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 1(2), 49-54. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20180102.14

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    Markos Troulis. Conceptualizing Europeanness and European Politics: Issues of Turkey’s Compatibility. J. Polit. Sci. Int. Relat. 2018, 1(2), 49-54. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20180102.14

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    AMA Style

    Markos Troulis. Conceptualizing Europeanness and European Politics: Issues of Turkey’s Compatibility. J Polit Sci Int Relat. 2018;1(2):49-54. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20180102.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jpsir.20180102.14,
      author = {Markos Troulis},
      title = {Conceptualizing Europeanness and European Politics: Issues of Turkey’s Compatibility},
      journal = {Journal of Political Science and International Relations},
      volume = {1},
      number = {2},
      pages = {49-54},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jpsir.20180102.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20180102.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jpsir.20180102.14},
      abstract = {The current paper aims to describe aspects of the debate regarding Turkey’s compatibility with how Europeanness is conceptualized. It is hereby questioned: How is Europe conceptualized? What’s the role of history towards such conceptualizations? Which are the parameters of Europeanness? And finally, is Turkey part of Europe? These questions are found at the core of the overall problematique concerning Turkey’s bid for access into the European Union (EU) and westernization process, in general. No matter how general they are, the questions refer to a certain philosophical debate which is extended to political and strategic aspects of the future of Europe as well as the future of Turkey in it. Ankara’s bid for EU membership and the ongoing negotiations are identified with this extension from philosophy to politics and strategy. On this line of thought, the current paper examines the concept of Europeanness in correlation with Turkish identity and ends to examine practical issues with regard to the EU-Turkey continuing dialogue. With reference to significant bibliography, the whole series of stakes is presented as well as the overall rhetoric legitimizing Turkey’s historical westernization inclinations. Therefore, the concluding remarks are related to all the practical aspects setting questions regarding Turkey’s access to the EU, keeping in mind that the EU nature is absolutely different to the strategic priorities of Ankara and its policy-making practices. For this reason, with one phrase, the conclusion could be ‘compatibility under conditions’ beyond any historical and philosophical references, since the anti-hegemonic nature of the EU structure is clearly incompatible to a grand strategy of economic projects manipulation for political purposes and treaties revision under an aggressive argumentation of Ottoman-like domination. As far as the EU value system is still valid and it is diffused into politics and the framework within European Great Powers are organized, hegemony matters and it is avoidable.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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    AB  - The current paper aims to describe aspects of the debate regarding Turkey’s compatibility with how Europeanness is conceptualized. It is hereby questioned: How is Europe conceptualized? What’s the role of history towards such conceptualizations? Which are the parameters of Europeanness? And finally, is Turkey part of Europe? These questions are found at the core of the overall problematique concerning Turkey’s bid for access into the European Union (EU) and westernization process, in general. No matter how general they are, the questions refer to a certain philosophical debate which is extended to political and strategic aspects of the future of Europe as well as the future of Turkey in it. Ankara’s bid for EU membership and the ongoing negotiations are identified with this extension from philosophy to politics and strategy. On this line of thought, the current paper examines the concept of Europeanness in correlation with Turkish identity and ends to examine practical issues with regard to the EU-Turkey continuing dialogue. With reference to significant bibliography, the whole series of stakes is presented as well as the overall rhetoric legitimizing Turkey’s historical westernization inclinations. Therefore, the concluding remarks are related to all the practical aspects setting questions regarding Turkey’s access to the EU, keeping in mind that the EU nature is absolutely different to the strategic priorities of Ankara and its policy-making practices. For this reason, with one phrase, the conclusion could be ‘compatibility under conditions’ beyond any historical and philosophical references, since the anti-hegemonic nature of the EU structure is clearly incompatible to a grand strategy of economic projects manipulation for political purposes and treaties revision under an aggressive argumentation of Ottoman-like domination. As far as the EU value system is still valid and it is diffused into politics and the framework within European Great Powers are organized, hegemony matters and it is avoidable.
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Author Information
  • Faculty of Turkish Studies and Modern Asian Studies, National and Kapodistrian University, Athens, Greece

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