Europe in the Mirror of Turkey

In recent years, the prospect of Turkey’s accession to the European Union has become a major challenge for European integration. It questions the nature of the European project, the identity of Europe, its geographic borders, and its political and cultural dimensions. Observing the specific trajectory of Turkey as a candidate country thus enables us to better understand current changes in the European project and its various conceptions, the relationship between Member States and European governance, the orientation of internal debates in Europe, and what is at stakes for the future of Europe. This paper provides an overview of academic literature in English and French dealing with Turkey and the EU. It shows how Turkey’s candidacy in its multiple dimensions reveals current and future European issues, including the European democratic deficit, European identity and values, and EU’s borders.