At the current time, more and more is being written about relations between Turkey and the European Union, with the heated debate surrounding Turkey's accession to the EU generating an abundance of articles and papers defending or condemning its candidacy. When considering the candidacy issue, scientific production mainly tends to use a description of the institutional history of the relationship between Turkey and the European Community as its starting point. Many works review the Turkish situation using legal, geopolitical, macroeconomic and macro-political data, while other studies attempt to assess its candidacy from the perspective of the criteria defined by the EU, or the 'challenges' posed by its membership. The aim herein is not to take one side or the other in the debate about Turkey's accession to the EU, but rather to give an insight into the processes involved in the construction of the European issue using a sociological analysis of the actors involved. Considering that 'all social actors can help to define the European issue' (Pasquier & Weisbein 2004: 13), we have chosen not to focus on the diplomatic actors involved in the ongoing negotiations, but to take into account other actors who are becoming directly or indirectly engaged on the issue of membership in Turkey, in European countries and the EU's capital cities (Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg). This report sets out to confront a long-neglected perspective; that of the sociological and interactive aspect of the accession negotiations process.
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