The Agenda for the Fight Against Corruption in Turkey – European Union Relations

Abstract

The agenda for the fight against corruption has become a prominent part of international organizations' relationships with nation-states. This article discusses topics vital to Turkey's bid for European Union (EU) membership under the Copenhagen criteria: corruption, the fight against corruption, and EU demands and expectations. It also assesses the EU's approach and framework for the candidate countries. For this purpose, qualitative document analysis is carried out on 80 EU documents on Turkey for the years 1998-2021, based on process tracing. The analysis demonstrates that corruption is a persistent issue in Turkey across multiple fields. Progress is still slow, and Turkey is far from fulfilling the membership requirements for the fight against corruption. The EU has advocated for political will and a new strategy to address corruption in Turkey, focusing on institutional capacity and governance, international commitments, the fight against clientelism and political corruption, and the independence of the judiciary.