Europeanization in Turkey: trigger or anchor for reform?

Abstract:

Since late 2001, successive Turkish governments have pursued an ongoing and unprecedented process of domestic political reform. Given the correlation between political reforms and relations with the EU, this process of change has been associated with Turkey's Europeanization. This article analyzes the link between Turkey's reform process and its path to EU accession. Did the accession process trigger the reforms as an external force driving internal change; or has domestic change been spearheaded by domestic actors that have used and been strengthened by the external EU anchor? What appears to be in the making is a process of change largely driven by endogenous factors, whose precise form and timing is intricately linked with the launch of Turkey's accession process.