Odnosi Ankare i Brisela i njihovo prelamanje na Balkanu
Ankara-Brussels Relations and their Reflection on the Balkans

Summary/Abstract: The paper consists of seven chapters presenting the history and nature of relations between Turkey and the European Union and their influence on the Turkish policy towards the Balkan countries. The author notes that a constant re-Islamization of the political elite and of the public space has been going on since the first multiparty parliamentary elections in 1950. It culminated with the rise to power of the Justice and Development Party in 2002. Relations between the EU and Turkey indicate that a definite slowdown or pause has probably occurred, which both players are aware of, and to which both parties have contributed. The seemingly paradoxical fact is that the EU was a key external instigator of weakening of the traditional stronghold of secularism – the Turkish military. Disillusioned by the possibility of entering the EU Turkey emphasizes its independent policy by projecting itself as a regional power that should restore the influence of Minor Asia in some countries that were once a part of the Ottoman Empire. The last chapter discusses the decreasing possibility of carrying out this plan, at least when it comes to the Balkans.

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