Turkey’s Integration with the European Union – the European Identity Versus Turkish Self-Confidence

Abstract

The sense of identity across the European Union (EU) has become an increasingly controversial and often discussed issue over the past decade. Nowadays, growing number of analysts argue that the progress of the European integration project will be impeded by the lack of such an identity. Questions regarding the nature of European identity, especially the search for a new European identity, its relations with other identities, and a possible loss of national identities, are frequently asked in the context of the EU enlargement. These questions are discussed and different views exist in EU member states. Although initiated especially by opponents of EU integration, they are also becoming burning issues in the candidate countries. Often, public opinion in these countries fears that their national identities will be lost or, at least, substantially weakened with their full integration into the EU. There are many debates on the notion of the unity of the European civilization. In this context, Turkish integration with the European Union is the most challenging issue. Its Muslim population could change the concept of European identity. In this paper, we would like to analyze the concept of European identity, the perspective of the integration of Turkey into the EU, and its ideological dimension. It is also important to analyze the phenomenon of the Euroskepticism in Turkey in this context.