Research Information System
ULUSLARARASI ILISKILER-INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, vol.7, no.28, pp.85-109, 2011 (SSCI)
Since 1999 the European Union issue has become for the first time the main subject of Turkish foreign and domestic policies. A transformation was undertaken from 2000 until 2005, the year the accession negotiations were officially launched. Turkey's official candidacy was the main reason of this reform and transformation movement. Until 2005, the majority of the Turkish public opinion has supported the membership idea; however this support has eroded right after the start of the accession talks. The EU process, such as certain dynamics of the globalization, has helped to unveil the failures of the existing structures and has necessitated a reconstruction process. Turkey's EU process is one of the outcomes of the globalization's dynamics and in this country, globalization, westernization and the EU membership terms are used interchangeably. That's why being anti-EU has become one of the expressions of the anti-globalization movement in Turkey. This opposition has reinforced nationalistic reactions, thus the globalization pressure and the EU process have reinforced the tendency to preserve the existing structure, relation models and regime in Turkey.