ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by evaluating the main characteristics of the emergent European Union (EU) foreign policy and Turkey's foreseeable place in it, taking into consideration the outgoing evolution of Turkey's foreign policy which, to some degree, is experiencing an 'Europeanisation' process. Throughout the last decade, the EU has made significant steps towards the development of a true European Foreign Policy. The chapter presents two test cases to illustrate the compatibilities or divergences between the EU's and Turkey's foreign policies: the policy towards the Balkans and that towards the Mediterranean and the Middle East. In addition to being at the top of both the EU's and Turkey's external agendas, the Middle East and Mediterranean region is also a main priority of the world's hegemon, the US. Therefore, convergence or divergence regarding the Middle East will also determine to what extent Turkey's membership is perceived as a burden or as an asset for enhancing EU's actorness in this very critical region.
