Finding Common Grounds: Rediscovering the Common Narrative of Turkey and Europe

“Finding Common Grounds: Rediscovering the Common Narrative of Turkey and Europe” is the result of the combined efforts of 9 authors who came together to discuss the possible ways forward for Turkey’s EU accession process. As an indication of the content of the book, the authors are likened to “a very atypical group of passengers who found themselves in the same carriage of a train that was speeding towards a point where the track might end. Some of them were searching for a way to stop the train and bring it back to a junction from where they could travel more safely to the desired destination. Others were convinced that there was no way to stop it and they were rather trying to see how to build a new track so that the train could carry on”. Published in 2009 with support from the German Marshall Fund, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Bratislava as well as the Open Society Foundation in Bratislava and published by the Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association, this book  has positively contributed to the discourse regarding Turkey’s EU accession since that time. An electronic copy (in English) of the book can be accessed here.

The Following is an Excerpt from the Book Detailing the Chapter’s Contents

“The collection starts with contribution of Hurriyet Daily News
editor-in-chief David Judson, who in his essay looks on what media
can and cannot do in breaking the obvious communication divide
between the EU and Turkey. Then we follow with four articles looking at EU decision-making vis-à-vis Turkey. Adam Szymański writes about the Eu’s fears vis-à-vis Turkish membership and suggests some policies the EU had better employ now. David Král looks at what could be expected from the Czech EU presidency and Deniz Bingol Mcdonald and Peter Balazs analyze the roles of conditionality and public opinion in enlargement. Ceren Ak, Sylvia Tiryaki and Mensur Akgün evaluate the union’s approach after last year’s evaluation report. We close the volume by another reflection by Lucia Najslova– an essay on “talking Turkey” in Slovakia or what it takes to mainstream a seemingly marginal topic.”