Beyond the institutional logics: international level systemic analysis of EU-Turkish relations

Abstract

This article aims to explain the slowing down of European Union (EU)–Turkish relations since the start of the accession negotiations in 2005 with international level systemic analysis. For this purpose, it examines the current challenges the new rising powers pose to the US-led unipolar international order and it shows how both the EU’s and Turkey’s responses to these challenges influence their relative powers as well as the negotiation process. By focusing on international level systemic dynamics, the article differs from the institutional explanations that explain EU–Turkish relations either with the utility-based logic of consequentialism or the norms-based logic of appropriateness.