The role of the European Parliament in Turkey-EU relations: A troublemaker or a useful normative actor?

Gürkan, Seda

doi:10.1080/14683857.2018.1431515

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Furthermore, in April 2015, it adopted a specific resolution on the centenary of the Armenian genocide, in which it continued to lead by example in encouraging Ankara ‘to come to terms with its past, to recognise the Armenian genocide’ (EP 2015b). The recognition of the Armenian genocide has always been a constant theme in the EP's position on Turkey since, even though it is not part of the political conditionality, most groups in the Parliament expect a third country that carries a historical burden to recognise the mistakes made in the past before joining the EU (Interview 8; on the emphasis of the EP on the Armenian genocide, see also Gürkan 2018, pp. 115–118).…”

Section: The Ep's Political Leadership In Eu Foreign Policy Towards T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The European Parliament's Political Leadership: The Case Study of EU Foreign Policy towards Turkey

Baracani

Santini

2023

J of Common Market Studies

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This article presents an empirical analysis of how the European Parliament's eighth legislature mobilised to shape European Union (EU) foreign policy towards Turkey during the refugee crisis. On a conceptual and methodological level, we propose an analytical framework based on the mechanism of political leadership to trace the EP's role in two specific areas of EU foreign policy towards Turkey: enlargement and cooperation on migration. We argue that EP foreign policy resources allow it to play a political leadership role in this policy domain. Empirically, the analysis feeds into the claim of New Institutional Leadership since it reveals that the informal governance at the time of the refugee crisis favoured the mobilisation of the EP, mainly to protect its institutional prerogatives. The analysis also shows that the EP adopted a contradictory approach to EU foreign policy towards Turkey that affected the Parliament's reputation as the guardian of EU values.

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Section: The Ep's Political Leadership In Eu Foreign Policy Towards T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The European Parliament's Political Leadership: The Case Study of EU Foreign Policy towards Turkey

Baracani

Santini

2023

J of Common Market Studies

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“…While several factors might hinder an institution's normative role, recent research has demonstrated that the properties of the norms promoted by the EP have important repercussions for its diplomatic/normative agency (Gürkan, 2019). The EP's ability to engage the Turkish political elite in a dialogue has varied according to the content of norms 2 or values the EP has aspired to promote vis-à-vis Turkey (Gürkan, 2018). The analysis of inter-parliamentary relations highlighted that while, the EP could engage in a constructive dialogue with legislators when it conveyed fundamental norms and values as embedded in the Copenhagen political criteria, it has mostly remained a marginal actor in cases where it has promoted new, controversial conditions which triggered emotions in the receiving end (ibid.).…”

Section: Research Puzzle: Why Does the European Parliament Promote Em...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotions in parliamentary diplomacy: debating the Armenian genocide in the European Parliament

Gürkan

2021

Global Affairs

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Why do international institutions promote emotional norms? In order to answer this question, the article, first, maps the legitimizing arguments put forward by the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in promoting an emotionally loaded norm vis-à-vis Turkey, i.e., the recognition of the Armenian genocide. Second, the paper explores the reasons behind the promotion of this emotional norm by the European Parliament (EP) as justified by the MEPs. The article theoretically draws on the IR literature on emotions, and empirically, it relies on the data generated from the interventions by the MEPs at the plenary on the centenary of the Armenian genocide on 15 April 2015. Through claims analysis, it is demonstrated that the condemnation of genocide is a shared norm within the EP, which transcends national and ideological differences. Consequently, the MEPs aspire to render it an essential constitutive element of the emotional community at the EU level.

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“…Scholars have analyzed the reasons why the EP's role in promoting the EU's fundamental values in Turkey has remained largely limited to the implications of the post-enlargement European international society for Turkey. They also focused on the discourses of the main center-right political party group (European People's Party, EPP) in the EP concerning Turkey's accession to the EU, uncovered what drives the EP's discussions on a so-called 'privileged partnership' for Turkey, and how MEPs voted on a particular amendment proposing a special status for Turkey (Gürkan, 2018;Aydın-Düzgit, 2015;Rumelili, 2011;Yuvacı, 2013;Türkeş-Kılıç, 2020).…”

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confidence: 99%

The European Parliament’s Perspective on EU–Turkey Relations

Kaeding

Schenuit

2021

EU-Turkey Relations

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Over the last fifteen years, the European Parliament (EP) has served as an important actor in the assessment and design of the politically contested relationship between the EU and Turkey in general, and Turkey’s extended accession talks in particular. In the event of a successful completion of Turkish accession negotiations, the EP will also be responsible for taking the final decision on Turkish accession to the EU. Based on data made available by VoteWatch Europe with regard to the voting behavior of Members of the EP on all Turkey-related files since 2005, we show how the EP’s support for Turkey’s accession to the EU has changed over time. Our findings reveal that the EP has gradually developed from a strong advocate of Turkey’s EU membership to the only EU institution formally closing the ‘accession door’ for Turkey. At the same time, EP resolutions on the country reports on Turkey have collected numerous arguments for the importance of a new strategic partnership—representing majority-winning new narratives on the future trajectory of EU–Turkey relations. These arguments should not be wiped away in an increasingly politicized environment. Vote-seeking and closing the door to accession without identifying possible alternatives for cooperation would be politically and geo-strategically shortsighted.

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The role of the European Parliament in Turkey-EU relations: A troublemaker or a useful normative actor?

Cited by 9 publications

References 30 publications

The European Parliament's Political Leadership: The Case Study of EU Foreign Policy towards Turkey

The European Parliament's Political Leadership: The Case Study of EU Foreign Policy towards Turkey

Emotions in parliamentary diplomacy: debating the Armenian genocide in the European Parliament

The European Parliament’s Perspective on EU–Turkey Relations

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