İmgelem

Yazarlar: Seven ERDOĞAN

Konular:Beşeri Bilimler, Ortak Disiplinler

Anahtar Kelimeler:Turkey,Turgut Özal,European Union,Membership Application

Özet: Turkey made a full membership application to the European Union (EU) on 14 April 1987. This constitutes one of the turning points in the long history of the Turkey-EU relations. Due to the heightened impasse in the relations between parties since 1970s, this unexpected application created a shock effect at the EU side. Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Özal was frequently depicted as the primary actor behind the application, especially his leading role in shaping Turkish political and economic lives extensively after 1980s. The application can be seen as an evidence of the harmony between the Turgut Özal’s vision on Turkey and the required transformations to be achieved for the EU membership. This paper aims to evaluate Turgut Özal’s role in Turkey’s EU membership application process. In this scope, firstly, a brief information regarding the political leadership profile of Turgut Özal is provided. Secondly, the characteristics of the period before the EU membership application are elaborated. Lastly, Turkey’s waiting of the EU’s response to its membership application is considered. The paper concludes that a new dimension was added to the Turkey-EU with the Özal’s application and this has had a great legacy in the development of the relations between parties in the succeeding years by adding it an accession dimension. 

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