European Sovereign Debt Crisis and EU-Turkey Relations

Whether Turkey’s high and fast economic growth is a result of the Customs Union between Turkey and the EU or not has been among one of the most discussed topics in Turkey. This controversial issue in recent years is escalated among the discourses by most Turkish business people. While analyzing these discourses, the author crosschecked their justifications with empirical data and found that Turkish business people have changed their attitudes about the EU-Turkey’s Customs Union more negatively after the European sovereign debt crisis. Their main arguments lie among the Customs Union’s asymmetric terms and conditions, its impact on Turkish trade flow, and the competitiveness of Turkish industry. Under the circumstance that Turkey is opening her market to more destinations in the world, whereas in Europe there is discussion about the dissolution of the euro-zone and economic turmoil in other member states of the EU, the discourses by Turkish business people also accumulated and left a message for a reconsideration of the Customs Union between Turkey and the EU.