What impact do issues of culture, religion and identity have on Turkey's chances of joining the EU? Are religious and cultural factors per se the primary obstacle to Turkish accession, or is it their interaction with other factors that is prolonging and complicating Turkey's progress towards EU membership? Mirela Bogdani here analyses the complex range of issues that are influencing the process of Turkey's accession to the EU, assesses the positions of different European actors towards Turkey's pursuit of EU membership and identifies the reasons for the European opposition. She also analyses the issues of political Islam, multiculturalism and the compatibility of Islam with democracy. This book will be an important resource for anyone interested in EU politics, EU enlargement policy, EU-Turkey relations, the relationship between religion and politics, political Islam, multiculturalism and supranational integration.

The author argues that the European Union is under threat of collapse and that new international policy must tackle migration, the Euro, Brexit, and enlargement in order to avoid dissolution.

This title was first published in 2003.The book presents an analysis of the development of the European Union's policy towards Turkey from a comparative perspective and compares the EU's approach to the issues in the EU-Turkey relationship. However, the literature on EU-Turkey relations is excessively rigid, antiquated and opinionated, reflecting the stylized version of the official approaches to issues between the two. With this in mind, the primary objective of this study is to contribute to the literature by using a comparative approach to analyse these relations. Human rights, the Greco-Turkish dispute and the security considerations of both parties are chosen as specific policy issues. Moreover, the book adopts a new approach and covers several of the key topics in the EU enlargement debate. Finally, it explores the question as to whether the EU's containment policy will be sustainable in the long term and examines possible scenarios for both parties.

The revival of religion in world and European politics -- Turkey and the European Union -- The compatibility of Islam with democracy -- What place do religion and culture have in the debate on Turkish candidacy? -- Reasons for the increase of European opposition since 2001.

Since Turkey’s EU accession has arguably come to a halt with the freezing of several negotiation chapters in 2005, Turkey and the European Union have been through many internal and global crises. As a result of these crises, while the priorities of both parties have changed, EU–Turkey relations advance still at a snail’s pace rather than totally breaking down. EU/Turkey Relations in the Shadows of Crisis: A Break-Up or Revival? aims to challenge the future of the relations between the European Union and Turkey by discussing the impact of the crises on not only the parties involved but also on their relations by displaying both imperfections in the EU/Turkey association and the future cooperation/accession alternatives between the European Union and Turkey.

When will Albania join the EU? Will accession help Albania to achieve prosperity, stability and prosperity? And, what factors are helping it towards this end and what factors are holding it back? An original study of Albania and its relations with the EU, this is the first book to identify and analyse the problems of the country as it moves towards membership of the Union. It explores the political, economic and social transformations needed to make Albanian membership possible. The authors highlight the enormous democratic changes that have occurred in post-communist Albania, as well as the many obstacles that still remain. This balanced and objective assessment will be an essential resource for everyone interested in the history and future of the Balkans and the EU.

The Cyprus conflict was for long an inactive volcano, but it erupted violently in 1955, 1963 and 1974. Now more of a smouldering fire, its persistence is a serious obstacle on Turkey's route to EU accession. Uniquely utilizing Turkish sources, this book looks at how the conflict has developed since 1978.