Putting Turkey's Persistent Quest into a Theoretical Perspective: A Historical Institutionalist Approach.

Why does Turkey want to be a member of the European Union? The existing literature, in an attempt to answer this question, has pointed to interests and identity as driving Turkey?s membership quest. This paper suggests an alternative explanation by showing how the quest for EU membership is a result of the development trajectory that it has been following for almost two centuries. Using historical institutionalist approach and its analytical tools, like path dependency, the authors will show that the accumulative effects of policy choices of almost two century and especially of policy choices after the Turkish Republic was found have created momentum that has led Turkey to seek EU membership. The Turkish path of development, especially after the founding of the Turkish Republic, has been very strongly colored by a desire to be a European nation. The logic of 'westernization' informing the Turkish path of development has profoundly shaped its domestic and foreign political choices. This paper will historically trace how the policy choices of the past have made EU membership much more likely option than other possible forms of international alignment. Although this paper does not deny the role of interests and identity, it draws attention to the historical institutional dynamics wielding causal weight on current choices and even shaping contemporary interest and identities. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]