The EU Enlargement Process as a Peace Promotion Instrument: The Kurdish conflict in Turkey

Abstract

Among all the European Union (EU) peace promotion mechanisms, the enlargement process seem to present the best results. This is due to the way it links non-member states to the possibility of EU membership, which, in hindsight, is the biggest benefit that an unstable, poorly developed state, on the EU borders can have. As peace and stability are compulsory requisites to join the ‘club,’ any conflict evolving in that country will have the tendency to be solved, at least in theory. This chapter analyses the degree of influence that the enlargement process has been having in the KurdishTurkish conflict, especially up to the re-escalation of the fighting during 2004. It will explain the evolution of the enlargement process, the concrete analysis of the Turkish relation with the EU, and Turkey’s Kurdish problem, including its characterization and relation to Turkish security.