ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of cooperative frameworks (i.e., institutional frameworks for the mutual exchange of information and cooperation on foreign policy) between Turkey and the EU. Specifically, it examines the fundamental features of the Political Dialogue, as well as other formats of foreign policy dialogue, and discusses the scope it offers for general consultation on foreign policy and the nature of the EU-Turkey foreign policy relationship, leaving it to following chapters to provide evidence as to what the implications for cooperation are. It describes dialogue mechanisms at different levels, such as the ministerial dialogue and Political Dialogue at the political directors’ level, based on qualitative interviews with EU and Turkish diplomats. The main conclusion of this chapter is that, during the course of the Arab uprisings, the foreign policy dialogue remained largely informal, meaning that the standard frameworks, such as the Political Dialogue, were not particularly central in terms of the consultations that took place. The chapter also concludes that informal dialogue has become the norm in the Turkey-EU foreign policy relationship, and Turkey’s rate of alignment with EU positions is not a reliable indicator of the degree of Turkey’s cooperation with the EU.
