Caspian Report - Issue 06 - Winter 2014

The unique and deep-rooted dialogue
between Turkey and Germany rests
upon multidimensional bilateral
relations determined by strong economic
cooperation, political dialogue and
cultural exchanges.
INTRODUCTION
The unique and deep-rooted dialogue
between Turkey and Germany rests
upon multidimensional bilateral
relations determined by strong
economic cooperation, political
dialogue and cultural exchanges.
The official German attitude
towards Turkish membership in the
European Union (EU) has always
been an important dynamic in
German-Turkish relations. German
preferences for Turkey’s membership
prospect significantly shape the
scope, intensity and characteristics of
Turkey - EU relations. This is mainly
due to German influence within the
EU in terms of agenda-setting, policyshaping
and decision-making, as
facilitated by German economic and
political power. 1
What are the key determinants
of German preferences regarding
Turkey’s accession to the EU This
paper argues that at the present time,
national interests play a decisive
NATIONAL
INTERESTS
PLAY A
DECISIVE
ROLE IN THE
OFFICIAL
GERMAN
ATTITUDE
TOWARDS
TURKISH
MEMBERSHIP IN
THE EU.
role in the official German attitude
towards Turkish membership in the
EU. In view of Turkey’s quite limited
progress in recent years in the
fulfilment of the Copenhagen political
criteria and the continuing problems
related to Turkey’s perception as a
“European” country, in particular, by
the majority of the German Christian
Democrats and their Bavarian
partners, German Social Democrats, 2
strategic calculations define German
preferences and consequently
contribute significantly to the
trajectory of Turkey’s EU course.
The paper makes recourse to an indepth
analysis of last year’s German-
Turkish dialogue in view of Turkey’s
EU accession process. It traces the
interaction between leading German
and Turkish decision-makers in
politics and economics in view
of changing global and regional
parameters as well as the interaction
of the German government with the
EU institutions concerning Turkey’s
EU accession process.
57
CASPIAN REPORT, WINTER 2014
1
. See on German power within the EU Simon Bulmer and William E. Paterson, “Germany and the European Union: from ‘tamed
power’ to normalized power”, International Affairs, Vol. 86, No. 5, 2010, pp. 1051-1073; Jonas Tallberg, “Bargaining Power in the
European Council”, Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 46, No. 3, 2008, pp. 685-708; Andrew Moravcsik, “Europe After the
Crisis”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 91, No. 3, 2012, pp. 54-68
2
. See for example “Schäuble: Türkei ist nicht mehr Europa”, Die Presse, 03.07.2013