Türkiye in the European Security Community

Under the discursive construction of Europe as a security community, this chapter presents two opposite and prevailing representations of Türkiye as subtopics. These prevailing representations are Türkiye as a strategic partner and as a security threat in the region. In terms of its image as a strategic partner, Türkiye’s regional importance is always underlined and praised as a strategic partner of Europe for the sake of Europe’s security, which is elaborated in this chapter under the images of Türkiye as a bridge between civilizations, a model for the Mediterranean and the Middle East, an alternative route for European energy security, and a host for refugees. Concerning the representation of Türkiye as a security threat in the region, Türkiye whose foreign policy may be incompatible with the EU, and Türkiye as a frontline state to the conflictual regions are examined. In this chapter, it is frequently seen that the discursive construction of Europe as a security community basically relies on Türkiye’s role in terms of the clash of civilizations thesis. In the end, convergence with and divergence from the findings of the period 1997–2007 in terms of the representation of European identity and Turkish identity is explained.