ABSTRACT
Turkey’s EU membership aspirations date back to the conclusion of an association agreement with the European Economic Community on 12 September 1963, which confirmed the possibility of full membership if/when Turkey fulfils its obligations arising out of the Treaty of Rome.6 Yet, due to domestic political upheavals in Turkey that continued for almost two decades, mostly stemming from the residues of the subsequent military coups of 1971 and 1980, as well economic instabilities, it was not until the mid-1980s that Turkey reconsidered its membership goals. The new chapter in Turkish politics, economics and foreign policy that was opened in the second half of 1980s paved the way to Turkey’s application for membership on 14 April 1987. The European Commission in its opinion in 1989 on Turkey’s application confirmed the eligibility for membership, yet criticized the misfit between European and Turkish democratic standards by stating that ‘although there have been developments in recent years in the human rights situation and in respect for the identity of minorities, these have not yet reached the level required in a democracy’ and accordingly considered that accession negotiations with Turkey were premature (Commission of the European Communities 1989, para. 9). The denial was not only grounded on Turkey’s democratic and economic reform progress or lack thereof, but also in the EU’s non-readiness for absorbing new members at a time when it was preoccupied with the completion of the single market and the accession of Austria, Denmark and Finland (Muftuler-Bac and McLaren 2003, 21).
