The Shift in Discourses of Identity in the Eu-Turkey Relationship
WITH OR WITHOUT YOU: THE SHIFT IN DISCOURSES OF IDENTITY IN THE EU-TURKEY RELATIONSHIP by ERMAN ERMIHAN Submitted to the Graduate School of Social Sciences in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Sabancı University July 2019 ERMAN ERMİHAN 2019 © All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT WITH OR WITHOUT YOU: THE SHIFT IN DISCOURSES OF IDENTITY IN THE EU-TURKEY RELATIONSHIP ERMAN ERMIHAN POLITICAL SCIENCE M.A. THESIS, JULY 2019 Thesis Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Senem Aydın-Düzgit Keywords: EU, Turkey, Identity, Discourse The long history of EU-Turkey relations paved Turkey’s path towards membership in 2005, though she is still a candidate country. After 2013, the stagnated relationship between the two increased the emphasis on strategic partnership more than membership, while less emphasis was given to ideational factors in the literature. In addition, the role of ideational factors in the EU’s enlargement policy remains understudied. To contribute to the literature, this study aims to explain the shift in discourses of identity through a discourse-historical analysis (DHA) of the EU’s identity-based approaches towards Turkey between 2013 and 2016 based on the social constructivist theory. Guided by the literature between 1999 and 2013, this thesis observes the themes through which Europeanness and Turkishness were constructed as a result of certain milestones in the relations. Taking 2013 as a major milestone because of the Gezi Park Protests and corruption investigations in Turkey which increased the EU’s concerns on Turkey’s democratic status, it is possible to observe the shifts in discourses of identity by analyzing 18 parliamentary debates on Turkey in the European Parliament which is a strong influencer in the EU’s enlargement policy.
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