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Turkey has seen a surge in populist nationalism over the last decade. How this has played out in transnational space through overseas Turkish citizens' voting behaviour remains understudied, however. This article takes up this question, focusing on how the populist–nationalist appeals of the ruling AKP have been received by Turkish citizens in Europe. Specifically, it asks why such appeals have resonated highly with voters in some host countries but not in others. The study suggests that expatriates from Turkey facing more discrimination are more likely to be wooed by populist–nationalist discourse from the homeland. The findings draw on official statements and speeches, Turkish electoral data, the European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey, newspaper articles, and secondary sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey's relations with the EU have gradually soured roughly since 2013. Today, Turkey and the EU have an erratic modus vivendi episodically bordering political crises. This study attempts to provide a critical constructivist account of Turkey's foreign policy change towards the EU between 2002 and 2017. This change in state behaviour analysed in relation to the paradigmatic shift in Turkish national identity discourses regarding civilisational self-understanding led by the AKP elites. The article asserts that this transformation in Turkish national self-perception made fluctuations in Turkey's policies towards the EU and gradual deterioration of relations 'thinkable' via the medium of national identity discourses. The impact of Turkey's new hegemonic civilisational self-understanding is pursued within the epistemological framework of conceivability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of Europeanisation initiated in Turkey following the 1999 Helsinki summit witnessed a loosening of state control over the Patriarchate of Constantinople under the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). In parallel with the AKP's reforms geared towards EU membership, the Patriarchate's activities became more transnational in their character, especially with regards to its organisation and influence over religious affairs within the Christian world. This contribution traces change and continuity in Turkish policy towards the Patriarchate under the AKP government. Key differences between the AKP government's stance on the Patriarchate and those of its predecessors are noted, with specific reference to prospects of EU membership and the strategy that has been devised by the AKP to that end. Specifically, the contribution shows that Turkey's bid to join the EU initially presented important leverage over Turkey, allowing the Patriarchate to reassert its transnational character. However, diminished prospects of EU membership together with a gradual return of nationalist sentiment now present an important challenge for the Patriarchate in its efforts to maintain transnational character and influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have shown that the most important factor explaining opinions on European Union issues is attitudes towards immigrants. Two arguments are given to explain this effect. We contend that these arguments are both built on the idea that people with anti-immigrant attitudes frame other Europeans as an out-group. We then test the validity of these arguments by measuring how respondents in a voter survey frame the issue of Turkish membership. We find that framing the issue in terms of out-groups indeed mediates the effect of anti-immigrant attitudes on support for Turkish membership. This finding offers new insights into why levels of public support vary over different EU issues, because opposition is likely to increase when an issue is more easily framed in terms of out-groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper addresses the issue of early preferences of national political parties in the EU regarding Turkey's accession. Two main hypotheses are proposed. First, national moderate parties contribute mainly to the de facto transformation of the accession in an 'open' process by developing volatile attitudes. Second, in the case of moderate parties, volatile attitudes and concrete political discourses on Turkey's accession are mainly determined by explanatory factors other than ideology (structural and strategic factors). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing literature on transnationalism documents the ways in which immigrants and refugees stay connected with their communities and countries of origin, and shows how homeland governments reach out to their former constituents. Social, financial and political ties are extended across borders. We know little, however, about the specific ways in which oppositional transnational political practices are shaped and made effective. What is more, research on transnational political practices has often limited itself to investigations of the connections between nation states. This article illustrates how transnational political practices articulate different levels of policy making (local, national, supranational) in ways that multiply the effectiveness of engagement at any one site. It will be shown that homeland political activists can effectively shape the homeland political agenda through the mobilization of immigrants' and refugees' associations and institutions in multilevel constructions of networks, constituting a space of political engagement that needs to be considered in its own right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I build a theory of European Union (EU) expansion using Social Identity Theory. The theory proposes that the development of a national identity in relation to Europe is the most significant contributing factor to a policy to support/oppose expanding the EU to include applicant countries. According to the theory, strength of identity—whether more national or European—is the key variable in explaining the policy toward applicant countries. As a preliminary exploration of the theory, I look at why some decision-makers within EU countries support Turkey’s accession while others do not. The identities among top decision-makers within Britain, Germany, and France are used to examine the policy preferences regarding Turkey’s bid for membership into the EU during these three recent progressions: the recognition of Turkey as a candidate country in 1999, the development of a timeline for full membership in 2002, and the beginning of accession negotiations in 2005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article seeks to explore whether there is evidence based on a survey of Belgian, German, Lithuanian and Polish elites that there is a common European identity or whether distinct European identities are emerging along the "new-old" dividing line between European Union (EU) states. Elites' perception of three potential external threats to the cohesion of the EU are investigated and include the inclusion of Turkey to the EU, the close relationships between some EU countries and the U.S., and the interference of Russia in European affairs. Individual-level factors such as elite left-right self-identification, different visions of the role of the EU, and national identity, are examined to determine how they shape perceptions and affect the formation of distinct European identities.

This paper seeks to contribute to our understanding of the issue of collective identity in the EU, and its relation to the process of enlargement. Through an analysis of the European Parliament's (EP) debates on the accession of Turkey, I will show that the issue of European collective identity is essential for understanding the EP's position towards Turkey. I will explicate the view on inclusion and diversity in the EU, implicit in speeches made in the EP. My analysis will show that there is a complex, two-way relation between the members of the European parliament's (MEP) views on inclusion and diversity in the EU, and their position towards Turkey. Another conclusion has to do with the relation between state nationalism and European integration. My findings suggest that the EP is quite indifferent towards state-national identities and cultures, and does not see them as assets to be preserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

French political leaders have voiced objections to prospective Turkish membership of the European Union (EU), citing material reasons as well as cultural objections involving the uncertain role of a predominantly Islamic society within a European political and economic bloc. Given the importance of the French language as a component of France's assumed special status in Europe and the world, and the rising popularity of English in both the EU and Turkey, it is also likely that language remains a further source of cultural objection, however understated. Turkey, like many other countries in central and eastern Europe, has made English a key feature of its engagement with the EU and the new global economy, directly accelerating the decline of French language use, and contributing to French official antipathies towards the EU candidacy of the Turkish Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores contemporary Turkey through the lens of education. Special attention is given to the recent curriculum reform of 2005 and the new Social Studies textbooks that have been redesigned as an aspect of Turkey's seeking admission to the European Union. The Ministry of Education policy statements about the new curriculum and textbooks involve a claim that they promote critical thinking and open-mindedness, along with a student-centred approach. However, a close analysis of the new textbooks shows that they are still imbued with an exclusive and narrow definition of nationalism and citizenship, backed by the myth of origin, ethnocentrism and essentialism. The paper discusses these issues in the context of the compatibility of a State-generated national ethos with democratic citizenship and argues that a notion of cosmopolitan education would extend the borders of a narrowly defined Turkish national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enlargement process of the European Union may be regarded as one of the most important social projects of human history in that it is trying to unite several nation-states under a “European identity.” As a historically and culturally “distant” candidate, Turkey has been asked to meet a set of expectations referred to as the “Copenhagen Criteria,” requiring a series of large-scale reforms to the infrastructure and superstructure of the country. Taking advantage of the unique opportunity to relate Turkish people's opinions on the criteria to their values, hypotheses based on Schwartz's model of values were tested. Schwartz's Personal Values Questionnaire and a questionnaire measuring opinions on the criteria and the Union were completed by 368 Turkish university students. Factor analysis of the opinion items yielded five factors: reduction of military influence in civil life, scepticism towards Europe and the European Union, improvement of human rights and liberties, improvement of minority rights, and lack of transparency in public institutions... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

En paralelo a la negociación conflictiva en torno a la definición y al sentimiento de la nación a nivel estratégico, las repercusiones de la globalización, y sobre todo de las negociaciones con la Unión Europea, complican la cuestión de las fronteras y, por consiguiente, la cuestión de la unidad en el contexto turco ("siempre en peligro", según las elites nacionalistas-kemalistas). El discurso nacionalista se consume a nivel popular pero, más que simple consumo o pura producción estratégica, se constituye como una producción de diferentes nacionalismos en las tácticas de la vida cotidiana. Este artículo aborda de este modo las nuevas producciones nacionalistas, profundizando en las tácticas que van de la supervivencia a la subversión o nuevos ritos religiosos en una situación de incertidumbres y de ambivalencias propiciadas por la globalización, por un nuevo encuentro con Occidente y por la desaparición de las fronteras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parallèlement à la négociation conflictuelle sur la définition et le sentiment de la nation au niveau stratégique, les répercussions de la globalisation et, surtout, les négociations avec l'Union européenne, compliquent dans le contexte turc la question des frontières et, par conséquent, la question de l'unité (« toujours en danger», d'après les élites nationales-kémalistes). Le discours nationaliste est consommé au niveau populaire mais, plutôt qu'une simple consommation ou une production stratégique pure, il constitue une production de différents nationalismes dans les tactiques de la vie quotidienne. Cet article adresse ainsi les nouvelles productions nationalistes, en approfondissant dans les tactiques qui vont de la survie à la subversion ou à de nouveaux rites religieux dans une situation d'incertitude et d'ambivalence rendue propice par la globalisation, par une nouvelle rencontre avec l'Occident et par la disparition des frontières [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the present time, there are no clear outcomes in Turkey's European Union (EU) accession process. By the end of the two years following the rise of the pro-Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the government in 2002, Turkey's accession process entered into a stalemate. Potent political opposition to the Turkish candidacy in Europe has escalated, despite a staunch Turkish political commitment since 1999 to meet the Copenhagen Criteria for admission. In this article, we argue that Turkey's EU accession process has contributed to opening political spaces for Islamism and ethno-nationalism in the country, ironically producing societal and political forces undermining Turkish membership. We inquire first into the practical reasons obstructing Turkey's membership to the Union and second into the societal and political implications of the continuation of the bleak possibility of EU membership for Turkey. As far as the latter is considered, our focus is limited to an analysis of the politicization and institutionalization of the ethnic and Islamist conservative politics in Turkey within the process of "liberal democracy." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the decline of nationalism in Turkey. A survey conducted by the Eurobarometer in Turkey found out that only 43 percent has a positive image of the European Union showing that it falls from 60 percent six months earlier. Nationalist protests and campaigns are increasing which targets the liberal or left-wing intellectuals and the Kurds. The Nationalist Action Party (NAP) are even blamed by right-wing groups for the alleged passivity and betrayal of Turkish nationalism. Recreation of the racist Turkism which distance itself between Islam and Turkism could result to radicalization or moderation can reshape the form conventional dialectic of radical right and center-right politics in Turkey.

This article examines the ways in which governmental and private culinary institutes, individual chefs, food writers and gourmets prepare Turkish cuisine for the global market. Along with plate design and presentation, traditional tastes are being challenged and subjected to modernization and synthesis. In these attempts to modernize cuisine, the European Union can be seen as a symbolic marker for the future of Turkish society. While not wishing to represent itself as the very "other" of the West, Turkey still seeks to be different-to be unique within the West. While nationalism is still influential in the struggles of global image-making, cosmopolitanism constitutes a national image for Turkey. In this respect, the notion of cosmopolitanism is becoming a significant feature of Turkish cuisine in the global market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author argues that the Kurdish nationalism within Turkey was the dominant political issue in Turkey's politics from January to the July 22, 2007 elections. During the elections, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) addressed the issue of secularism, terrorism and Kurdish state-formation developments in Iraq, while the Justice and Development Party (AKP) pursued the policies of economic development and expansion. The AKP also played a vital role in Turkey's membership to the European Union.

This article examines the cultural basis of European opposition to Turkish accession to the European Union (EU). Most observers depict the cultural and religious dimensions of the European debate over Turkish accession as a disagreement between those who see Europe as a Christian ‘club’ and those open to a more religiously pluralistic European identity. However, polls suggest that cultural and religiously based doubts about Turkish accession resonate with a much larger proportion of the European population than those who publicly defend the idea of an exclusivist ‘Christian’ Europe. Both secularists and Christian exclusivists (‘traditionalists’) express hesitations about Turkish membership: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the issues surrounding the plight of the Kurds in the southeast with respect to Turkey and the European Union (EU). Information on the Kurdish nationalism in Turkey; Problem of the Turkish government regarding the Kurdish insurgency being led by the Kurdistan Communist Party; Impact of the EU accession of Turkey on the local Kurdish.