The rapprochement between Turkey and the EU: The transformation process in the strategic perceptions from the 1999 Helsinki Summit to the 2003 Iraq War

Abstract

This article analyses the rapprochement process between Turkey and the EU which has been developing since the 1999 Helsinki Summit and especially in the wake of the US invasion of Iraq. As a result of differing perceptions of Turkey and the EU in the post Cold War, the Turkey-EU membership process had faced a deep "structural" crisis. However, after some important changes in the years from 1999 to 2003, Turkey and the EU rediscovered, and approached each other in such a way that it is incomparable with the past. The basic character of this rapprochement is the strategic transformation in the perceptions.