Deliberations in the Turkish parliament: The external perceptions of European foreign policy

Parliamentarians find themselves engaged in political struggle through the medium of language and constrained by their own rhetoric. These parliamentary debates reveal political perceptions. The external perceptions about the European Union emerge as a relatively understudied topic in political science. This brings forth the following question; how is the European Union and its foreign policy perceived externally? This paper focuses on one particular country, Turkey and the political deliberations within the Turkish Parliament, in order to assess the external perceptions of the EU. The paper analyzes the political debate in Turkey through an investigation of the proceedings of the Turkish Parliament, the legislature in Turkish politics, from 1998 to 2012. The proceedings in the Turkish Parliament enable us to analyze the different political camps’ positions by looking into their deliberations on the European foreign policy thoroughly. This analysis enables us to uncover the Turkish view on the European foreign policy.