ABSTRACT
However, the Islamist approach towards the EU went through a major shift towards the end of the 1990s, when public support for Turkey’s EU membership was becoming evident. Some Westernist circles in Turkey desire membership because they believe it would anchor Turkey in the West and reinforce secularism. Islamists, on the other hand, hope that membership will bring a liberal democratic political environment in which their demands can be met. Therefore, they have particularly called for compliance with the political Copenhagen criteria, which require stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and respect for and protection of minorities. What is notable here is that the remaining Islamist objections to Turkey’s EU membership are no longer couched in essentialist terms. Ironically, the Islamist retreat from anti-Europeanism has shown that it is the nationalist sensitivities of the Kemalist elite over the issues of national security and independence that cloud their ‘Occidentalist outlook’ (Kösebalaban, 2002).
