De-Europeanization of Turkish Foreign Policy in the Multi-Polar World

From the Helsinki Summit of 1999, which granted Türkiye candidate status, until the outbreak of the Arab Spring, Türkiye implemented the process of Europeanization, albeit with ups and downs. However, with the eruption of the Arab Spring, Türkiye not only rapidly distanced itself from the EU process but also began to roll back the reforms and principles that had been realized within this framework. In this context, the aim of this study is to analyze the dimensions of Turkish foreign policy’s departure from the Europeanization process—also conceptualized as the diminishing role of the EU’s foreign policy norms and principles as reference points—by drawing on the theoretical framework proposed by Müller, Pomorska, and Tonra (2021). By methodologically examining the foreign policy discourses and preferences of the actors responsible for Turkish foreign policy-making, the study finds that Türkiye’s disengagement from the EU process in foreign policy unfolds along three main dimensions: (a) the redefinition of national roles, (b) disengagement from the EU’s norms and principles, and (c) distancing from the EU’s institutional structures.