ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with European conditionality and its impact on the consolidation of democracy in Turkey regarding Turkish-EU relations between 1987, when Turkey applied for membership, and 1999 when the EU decided to give Turkey candidate status. Turkey’s position during this time had been that of a potential candidate in the pre-candidacy period. In this regard, Turkish-EU relations in the period under discussion serve as a rare and good opportunity to evaluate the conditionality of the EU and its impact on the political regime of an applicant state when the applicant does not receive official candidate status.
