Hırvatistan ve Türkiye: AB genişleme politikası şartlılık prensibinin ötesinde midir?

This thesis aims to understand the enlargement policy of the European Union in thelight of the comparative analysis of Turkish and Croatian accession process to the Union.In order to do that, the study asks the question whether the EU?s enlargement policy isbeyond the principle of political conditionality, which is to be applied to all applicant stateson equal footings. The focus here is on change in conditionality policy with respect to itsapproach and priorities. Given the need for comparison between Croatia and Turkey, thethesis tries to find out the relations between conditionality and the enlargement process andthe EU itself in terms of impact of the current policy environment on its commitment forenlargement. This study affords a picture of the problems which change in conditionalitysince 2004 has risen for the understanding of enlargement policy. Moreover, the thesisinvestigates how recent developments might have an effect on the enlargement policy ofthe Union. In this context, the thesis analyses the reason behind the different levels ofcommitment on the part of the EU towards Turkey and Croatia. Since they simultaneouslystarted the accession negotiations with the EU, there appears a great opportunity toevaluate the EU?s enlargement behaviour with its similarities and differences. In conclusion,member state preferences and concerns have a greater role in the changed policyenvironment, which requires an approach beyond the simple analysis of politicalconditionality to understand the enlargement policy of the Union.Keywords: Political conditionality, European Union, enlargement, candidate country,Turkey, Croatia