DIVERGENCE OF DISCONTENT

One of the most significant decisions of the EU,
after the Maastricht Treaty, was the decision to
accept new members as they fulfilled economic
and political criteria. Enlargement is still a
working policy process for the EU, in which
accession negotiations with formal candidate
countries are still proceeding and further expansion
to the Western Balkans are being considered as a
possibility. Despite its success, EU enlargement has
not been free from skepticism, especially when
considering Turkey's candidacy and the latest round
of accession negotiations. In this framework, the
study attempts to understand the dynamics of the
sociopolitical structure of the European opposition
to Turkish EU membership. Recent literature
indicates four major issues and concerns regarding
Turkey's EU membership; those related to identity,
future enlargement, individual economic
expectations, as well as immigration and crime. The
first phase of this study considers each issue area
as a separate topic while the second measures the
level of opposition to Turkey's membership using all
issue areas and other explanatory variables in a
single model.

Autorentext

Dr. Cuneyt Gurer received his Ph.D. in Political Science from
Kent State University. He currently resides in Ankara, Turkey,
where he works as Head of the Turkish Monitoring Center For
Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Klappentext

One of the most significant decisions of the EU,
after the Maastricht Treaty, was the decision to
accept new members as they fulfilled economic
and political criteria. Enlargement is still a
working policy process for the EU, in which
accession negotiations with formal candidate
countries are still proceeding and further expansion
to the Western Balkans are being considered as a
possibility. Despite its success, EU enlargement has
not been free from skepticism, especially when
considering Turkey's candidacy and the latest round
of accession negotiations. In this framework, the
study attempts to understand the dynamics of the
sociopolitical structure of the European opposition
to Turkish EU membership. Recent literature
indicates four major issues and concerns regarding
Turkey's EU membership; those related to identity,
future enlargement, individual economic
expectations, as well as immigration and crime. The
first phase of this study considers each issue area
as a separate topic while the second measures the
level of opposition to Turkey's membership using all
issue areas and other explanatory variables in a
single model.