THE CRISIS OF CONDITIONALITY AND DEPRIVATION OF SUPPORT IN ENLARGEMENT POLICY: INSIGHTS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION–TÜRKİYE RELATIONS
THE CRISIS OF CONDITIONALITY AND DEPRIVATION OF SUPPORT IN ENLARGEMENT POLICY: INSIGHTS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION–TÜRKİYE RELATIONS

Summary/Abstract: This study argues that Türkiye’s accession negotiations with the EuropeanUnion (EU) have been subject to a distinct conditionality framework comparedwith those of other candidate countries. A novel conditionality model emergesin Türkiye’s accession process, characterised by the systematic withholding ofpolitical, financial, and institutional support, constituting deprivation-of-support. This article conceptualises the term as the fourth model of conditionality.Deprivation-of-support in enlargement refers to conditionality without commitment,presence without benefit, and candidacy without progress. Crucially,the continued nominal maintenance of the accession framework, despite itspractical emptying, constitutes the defining characteristic of this fourth conditionalitystrategy. Evidence drawn from the post-2016 period — includingTürkiye’s exclusion from visa liberalisation, its marginalisation in the F-35programme, the asymmetric burden of managing Syrian refugees, and its progressiveisolation from the Western Balkans enlargement wave. The study furtherargues that the deprivation-of-support model, when set against the EU’spermissive engagement with stabilitocratic regimes in the Western Balkans, inwhich democratic deficits are tolerated in exchange for geopolitical loyalty. Itreveals a significant asymmetry in the EU’s conditionality practice and offers anormative template for the consistent application of negative leverage acrossthe enlargement framework.

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