Turkey and the EU: strategic rapprochement in the shadow of the refugee crisis

Abstract

The year 2015 closed with crucial developments formally boosting Turkey-EU relations in the wake of Europe’s refugee crisis. The EU-Turkey deal reached on 29 November 2015 raised Turkey’s strategic importance for the EU to a whole new level. The Turkish government was offered key economic and political incentives in exchange for its agreement to host the Syrian refugees in Turkey, while attending to their socio-economic needs and help stem the refugee flow to Europe. Among the perks were a generous financial aid package of 3 billion euros to support Turkey in this daunting task, the prospect of visa liberalization for Turkish citizens by the end of 2016 contingent on Turkey’s full implementation of the 2013 EU-Turkey readmission agreement and a “re-energized” EU-Turkey accession negotiations process.