2011/08/19 by Gamze Avcı · 3 citations
Social Sciences · #European Union Policy and Governance #Turkey's Politics and Society #International Relations and Foreign Policy
paper · doi:10.1080/13608746.2011.598359
openalex publication_date 2011/08/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This article explores what conditions or what specific issues lead to shifts in the positioning of the Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) towards Turkey's European Union (EU) membership goal. The article first examines the MHP's background and characteristics and compares it with similar parties in Western Europe. Subsequently, the MHP's EU stance during 1999–2002 and in the post-2002 period is discussed. The article concludes that ideology matters for the MHP but that shifts in degrees of Euroscepticisim during particular periods can be explained by strategic considerations of the MHP, which respond to the party's electoral gains or losses, its position in the party political spectrum and whether it is in government, in opposition or outside parliament.