Young Scholars on Turkey (YSOT) Conference 2011
Friday, 15 April 2011
The University Club
SETA Foundation at Washington D.C.
The Institute of Turkish Studies (ITS)
Ali Vural Ak Global Islamic Studies Center at George Mason University
Panel II - Turkey and the EU: Partners at Odds?
Moderator: Cemil Aydin (George Mason University)
Discussant: Emiliano Alessandri (The German Marshall Fund of the United States)
Ravza Kavakci Kan (Howard University) "Turkish Challenge to the Orientalist Narrative of the EU"
Selcen Oner (Bahcesehir University) "The Place of the EU in Multi-Dimensional Turkish Foreign Policy"
Juliette Tolay (University of Delaware) "Turkey's "Europeanness": Evidence from Turkey's Immigration Policies"
Summary
Ravza Kavakci Kan, in her talk "Turkish Challenge to the Orientalist Narrative of the EU,” outlined the main influences of Orientalism framework in opposing Turkey’s entrance to the European Union. Much of the opposition to Turkish ascension is founded in Turkey’s cultural identity. This provided a soul-searching for both European and Turkish parties in defining how they view themselves and one another. While Turkey abides by a secular system strongly influenced by the French model of laicite, this form of governance was not enough to placate religious assertions made by European opponents, reinforced by Islamophobia. In addition, doubts over AKP’s sincerity in making EU inspired reforms have not calmed prejudiced notions or opposition to membership. Despite the fact that EU Commission’s progress reports consistently indicate that Turkey continues to sufficiently fulfills the political criteria, new chapters are not being opened because come EU leaders do not think Turkey has a place in Europe, a perception shaped by the Orientalist narrative. While many reforms have been implemented, there is further work that needs to be done, yet many EU leaders frame Turkey’s membership within an Orientalist paradigm.
Selcen Oner, in her talk "The Place of the EU in Multi-dimensional Turkish Foreign Policy," focused on the shift in Turkish foreign policy relative to changing circumstances. Turkey was founded as a secular, military-influenced society. Therefore, the Cold War had a significant impact on Turkey due to its geography. However, since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, this has changed the international pursuits of the Republic, becoming more engaged in the Balkans, Middle East, Central Asia and the European Union. In the post-9/11 context, “Europeanization of Turkish foreign policy” has been unique in a securitization environment. The change had a notable influence on domestic life as Ankara pursued more pragmatic policies, including warming of relations with Armenia and Greece, as well as Cyprus. However, one criticism on this approach is that there is no crux or singular policy that determines the multi-dimensionalism. Yet, the multi-dimensional foreign policy is largely aided by Turkey’s Europeanizatio, which increased the role of public opinion on foreign policy while helping Turkey democratize and reduce the military’s role in politics. Turkey’s multi-dimensionalism, Oner argued, is not a substitute for but complementary to its relations with the EU.
Juliette Tolay, in her talk “Turkey’s Europeanness: Evidence from Turkey’s Immigration Policies” argued that Turkey is becoming more European in regards to their values and policies, while simultaneously remaining independent and critical of Europe. Tolay called this phenomenon “critical Europeanization. ”For example, during 2002-05, Turkey adopts rules and regulations as part of the EU reform process. However, after 2005, there has been an interesting shift. In immigration policy, Turkey has taken very liberal and transparent policies, utilizing feedback from civic groups as well as academics. This also applies to the liberalization of visas, making movement to and from Turkey easier through bilateral negotiations. For example, Turkey is the only European country that is granted a visa-free travel policy with Russia, an agreement not even granted to Moscow’s closet EU ally, Germany. Visa liberalization policy is actually modeled on EU’s neighborhood policy. Tolay argued that we can interpret many Turks’ claim that “we [Turks] are more European than the Europeans” as the ultimate example of Turkey’s “critical engagement” with the EU.
Emiliano Alessandri, in his talk touched on each presenter’s points. The commonality in all three is the uncertainty between Turkish-European relations. Overall, Turkey has changed much in the last ten years, independent of the European initiative. While Turkey used to be desperate to become an EU member, it now looks at it as an “option” which Alessandri considered unproblematic. While EU is still a goal in Turkish foreign policy, it is no longer the priority that defines the Foreign Ministry in Ankara. Alessandri argued that AK Party experience did not have to prove Orientalism wrong, as that was a fundamentally flawed paradigm in the first place. Encouraging Kan to go beyond identifying the existence of the Orientalist mindset among European leaders, Alessandri mentioned Berlusconi as a challenging example since he could be considered one of the leaders Kan critiques but he also supports Turkey’s EU membership. Alessandri praised Oner’s point that multi-dimensionalism dates back to the 1980s. To further the discussion, Alessandri suggested, it would be useful to understand the implications of Europeanization, and changes within Europe as it also realizes the inter-connectedness of the regional and international economy.
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