Turkey and the European Union, Questions on Harmonization
Turkey and the European Union, Questions on Harmonization

Summary/Abstract: Turkey’s relations with the European Union, going back nearly half a century, has entered a new decisive phase just before the closing of the millenium, on December 1999, when the EU Heads of State or Government at the European Council in Helsinki declared Turkey as one of the official candidates destined to join the Union on the basis of the same criteria as applied to the other 12 candidate states. From then onwards the Turkish Government earnestly got to work on taking the necessary steps towards meeting the Copenhagen political criteria at the earliest as this was the pre-requisite for the starting of the accession negotiations leading to the ultimate aim of full membership of the Union. The results of the elections held on 3 November 2002 provided a special momentum to these efforts as the Justice and Development Party (JDP), with a comfortable majority in the Turkish Grand National Assembly displayed a vigorous and energetic policy towards implementing legal reforms and carrying out further reforms in order to bring about a properly functioning democratic state based on the rule of law, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The reform process that was carried on in an outstanding pace since, although not complete, is already irreversible.

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