Narratives Matter: In Search of a Partnership Strategy

Executive Summary

Relations between Turkey and the European Union (EU) are dramatically shifting: many controversial issues are on the agendas of Ankara and Brussels as well as the main players in the EU like Berlin. Following the changing of the guards in Brussels in 2019, this policy brief pursues a triple “A” approach to the EU’s narratives on Turkey: it analyzes and assesses the narratives of the Union’s political leaders, who as members of the European Council—which is composed of the Heads of State or Government, the President of the European Commission, and the European Council itself—formulate the Council’s conclusions. Based on these reflections it will propose some advice for action. This policy brief finds that these statements over the last three decades frame the mental and conceptual maps of EU-Turkey relations. They not only offer opportunities to change EU-Turkey relations but also increasingly constrain the activities of the Union’s institutions, e.g., by blocking plans for upgrading the Customs Union. My analysis shows a move from the 1990s until 2020, from understanding Turkey as a candidate country—perhaps with some specific characteristics due to its size—to Turkey as a de facto partner country, as documented in the spring 2016 statement, and, finally, Turkey as a problematic neighbor with a rising number of conflicts. As to be expected in a pluralistic system, there is no single, unrivalled, master narrative: we observe the coexistence of different mental maps of a moving target. In support of policy action and academic activities between Turkey and the EU, this policy brief advises to keep the debate open and not to let the narrative over the last three years dominate the discussion on EU-Turkey relations. We need to stabilize and reinforce bridges through a cooperative partnership, as Chancellor Merkel stated in early 2020.1 The main task is to design and frame a narrative that identifies the necessary instruments for joint problem solving, formal and informal cooperation, and adequate procedures to agree on a resilient institutional set up.

Conclusions and Advice: In Search of a Partnership Narrative 

In the last four decades of the European Council’s conclusions, we can observe at least five narratives on Turkey, which are based on different readings of history and current events. We can identify: 

• A fundamental narrative that stresses the dimension of human rights linking the Union’s own identity as a community of values. This political criterion could be regarded as one of the Union’s master narratives, which was especially dominant in the late 1990s and in the early 2000s, and remains a deeply rooted condition for new steps.

• A narrative preparing and adopting Turkey’s candidate status, though perhaps with some specific conditions, which the European Council formulated for a certain period of time as a membership narrative. However, this lost its mobilizing power. 

• A narrative aimed at deepening and widening the Association Agreement, including upgrading the Customs Union. The Customs Union’s impact on policy actions is still limited. 

• In reaction to the wave of migration (and terrorism shocks) the leaders’ conclusions frame elements for a narrative with Turkey as a key partner in tackling vital challenges.

• With the latest statements on Cyprus and Northern Syria, a turn toward a narrative that perceives Turkey as a distant and problematic neighbor.