HARMONIZING FOREIGN POLICY
To my son, M. TarkHarmonizing Foreign Policy
Turkey, the EU and the Middle East
MESUT ZCAN
Istanbul Commerce University, Turkey
First published 2008 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Ozcan, Mesut
Harmonizing foreign policy: Turkey, the EU and the Middle
East
1. European Union - Turkey 2. Turkey - Foreign relations
21st century 3. Turkey - Foreign relations - Middle East
4. Turkey - Foreign relations - European Union countries
5. Middle East - Foreign relations - Turkey 6. European
Union countries - Foreign relations - Turkey
I. Title
327.561056
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ozcan, Mesut
Harmonizing foreign policy : Turkey, the EU and the Middle East / by Mesut Ozcan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7546-7370-5
1. Turkey--Foreign relations--21st century. 2. Turkey--Foreign relations--Middle East. 3.
Middle East--Foreign relations--Turkey. I. Title.
DR477.O93 2008
327.561056--dc22
2007046436
ISBN 13: 978-0-7546-7370-5 (hbk)
Contents
Preface
This book analyzes Turkish foreign policy towards the Middle East and the changes in this policy as a result of the European Union (EU) candidature and the harmony and/or disharmony between the policies of Turkey and the EU towards the region. The change in the foreign policy of Turkey towards the Middle East in the post-Cold War era is a highly debated issue in academic circles. I believe that the year 1999 represents a turning point in the post-Cold War era for the Turkish foreign policy towards the region. There is a change in the foreign policy of Turkey towards the Middle East after that year and I look at the impact of the EU candidature on the changes in the policy towards the region. I argue that the decrease in security threats against Turkey and the candidature of the country to the EU resulted in a change in the foreign policy towards the region and the cases of Iraq and Palestinian-Israeli conflicts are two important issues with which this change can be grasped. The changes in this period made the policies of Turkey and the EU towards these two cases closer to each other.
Turkeys candidature to the EU and the decline of the security threats against the country coincided with the increasing efforts on the side of the EU to have a more common foreign policy. And the Middle East as a neighbouring region to the Union has always been on the agenda of the EU in these attempts. Beside the changes in the Turkish foreign policy towards the Middle East, I also investigate the place of Turkey in the Middle East policy of the EU since this issue is highly debated in terms of the candidature of the country to the EU and the positive and negative sides of the possible membership of Turkey.
I limit my analysis of the changes in the foreign policy towards the Middle East after the EU candidature and the place of Turkey in the EUs Middle East policy to two cases: The Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Iraq. The reason for this choice is twofold: Both of these cases are dynamic issues of conflict in the region and are high on the agenda of Turkey in terms of its policies towards the region. Second, it is more realistic to analyze the policy of the EU towards the region with these two cases, with similarities and differences.
In order to analyze this title in detail, I focus on the one hand on issues related with the EU integration and formation of a common foreign policy in general and a common policy towards the Middle East in particular. On the other hand, I examine the decision making in the Turkish foreign policy and the foreign policy of Turkey towards the Middle East in a historical perspective before and after the EU candidature. In relation to that, this dissertation is organized into two main sections.
After an introduction, the first part focuses on the side of the EU with chapters on the theories of integration and international relations, the concept of Europeanization and the changes in the foreign policies of member states and candidates, the development of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the EU and the European Unions Middle East Policy. In the first chapter, first I will give a theoretical framework for the analysis of European integration. Here the explanatory capacities of different theoretical approaches are analyzed along with the developments in the direction of European integration. I think that this theoretical framework is necessary to explain the course and direction of the European integration as well as to understand what kind of an institution the EU is. I approach these theories from the point of analysis of European foreign policy in addition to understanding the nature of the EU.
is about the concept of Europeanization, the changes in the member states and candidates of the EU, especially in terms of foreign policy, as a result of the EU agenda. This part provides a theoretical analysis of the changes in the making and implementation of foreign policy in EU members and candidates. Several theoretical approaches and different examples from European countries are covered in this part. Within different definitions of the term, in this chapter, instead of dealing with the institutionalization at the EU level, I focus on the changes in the member states and candidates. My analysis is confined to the changes in the area of foreign policy, including decision making, and the content of the policy and policy actions. These two chapters constitute the base for the analysis of the changes in the Turkish foreign policy as a result of EU candidature.
is about the developments in the formation of a common foreign and security policy within the EU. In this part, I briefly cover the transformation of the European Union from its establishment until today and the emergence of the need to construct a common foreign and security policy. In this respect, my greatest attention is given to the post-Cold War era. Without giving the historical background on this issue, it would be difficult to understand changes in the foreign policies of the member states and candidates and also to analyze the common foreign policy of the EU on some specific areas like that of the Middle East. After providing some basic historical information about the development of the European integration and construction of the CFSP, this chapter discusses the institutionalization of the CFSP. The second part of this chapter analyzes the success and failures of the CFSP from different points of criteria, like the functions of the institutions, the issue of a common identity, financing the common operations, and also the effects of global conditions on the CFSP.
