중동부유럽

his paper examines Turkish national identity as the critical element in Turkey’s exclusion from the European Union (EU). My central contention is that the main obstacle to Turkey’s membership in the EU may not be the reason that European officials formally cite, that is to say, problems related to democracy, economics, and human rights, but rather, perceptions of Turkey and Turkish national identity as ‘alien’ and ‘others.’ As Europe reinvents itself along ethnic and to a certain extent, racial lines with the emergence of the EU, a powerful regional block pursuing a different kind of superpower whose main domain is the soft power, European perceptions of the Turk constitute serious obstacles to Turkey’s integration into Europe. Therefore, Turkey’s hopes for full membership in the EU are far from being materialized at this point due to questions regarding Turkey’s national identity.