Turkey's Role in the EU's Security and Foreign Policies

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Abstract
The restructuring of European security after the end of the Cold War has generally been to Turkey's disadvantage. With the reduction of the level of military threat, Turkey was no longer recognized as European, so its claim to EU membership fell on deaf ears, despite its best efforts to put its economy in order and to be helpful to the Western partners, particularly in the Balkans. This article proposes that an important reason behind the European Council decision to elevate Turkey's status to that of candidate country is the EU's evolving security role. In other words, the estimates of the potential benefits of Turkey's inclusion into the EU's Common European Security and Defense Policy (CESDP) and the costs entailed by its exclusion essentially shape the EU's policies towards Turkey. This argument does not deny the existence of other motives, such as the EU's desire to influence Turkey's politics and to re- solve the Cyprus problem. In addition, certain internal changes in the EU member-states, particularly the shift in Greek attitudes following the Turkish earthquake of August 1999 and the better understanding of Turkey's position shown by the Social Democratic/Green government in Germany, may have made the EU more open to and aware of the potential benefits of embracing Turkey.

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