Competing Narratives: Images of Turkey in the European Parliament (1996–2010)

Abstract

This chapter considers a series of debates about Turkey’s application for EU accession held in the European Parliament (EP) between 1996 and 2010, with a view to identifying the prevailing representations of Turkey and the EU, as well as the main narratives with which these are associated. Recalling the historical overview in the preceding chapter, we can note that this period includes both ups and downs in the Turkey-EU relationship: 1996 witnessed both the successful completion of the Customs Union and the Cyprus crisis, and the 1997 Luxembourg summit introduced a period of frosty relations that was followed by a thaw solidified at the 1999 Helsinki summit. In 2002, Turkey was given a positive but somewhat ambivalent signal with the announcement of a date for the start of discussions about setting of a date for the start of negotiations. Turkey has since enacted a series of reforms that have transformed the country and brought it closer to EU law and practices. Accession negotiations were opened in 2005 but progress on the 35 chapters has been slow and uneven, with only 1 chapter so far having been completed and 18 chapters being blocked by the EU or EU member states.

“Je suis un intellectuel de l’Occident,” proclame l’Italien, pour qui le monde est une arène ou s’affrontent deux principes conflictuels: “Force et justice, tyrannie et liberté, superstition et science, le principe de conservation et le principe de mouvement, le progrès. L’un pourrait être appelé le principe asiatique, l’autre le principe Européen, car l’Europe est le pays de la révolte, de la critique et de l’action … cependant que le continent oriental incarne le reste.”