Türkiye'deki yerel yönetimlerin Avrupalılaşması: İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi örneği

European Union has offered many opportunities for local administrations in the EU. When Turkey's official accession process has started in Helsinki Summit 1999, local administrations in Turkey have found a chance to take advantage of these opportunities. This thesis focuses on the question of how the local administrations in Turkey established relationships with the EU from 1999 to 2018. Europeanization is used as a conceptual framework. In this context, different Europeanization models are presented. This thesis is based on John's ladder model. By providing a comprehensive literature review, this thesis also mentions the evolution of EU funds, the role of city networks for the EU and Brussels offices. To understand the interplay between the EU and local administrations in Turkey, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality is considered as case study. Documents related to Izmir Metropolitan Municipality were analyzed and 12 elite interviews were conducted. At the end of the process tracing, it is stated that Izmir Metropolitan Municipality had been Europeanized at the level of networking.