Message from the Director:

Jean Monnet, declared on 5 August 1943 that “There will be no peace in Europe, if the states are reconstituted on the basis of national sovereignty... The countries of Europe are too small to guarantee their peoples the necessary prosperity and social development. The European states must constitute themselves into a federation...” (https://europa.eu/European-union/sites/europaeu/files/docs/body/jean_monnet_en.pdf). This idea was actualized just after the end of the World War II. Hence, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was established in 1951 and the European Economic Community (EEC) and European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) were established in 1957 by Germany, France, Italy and Benelux Countries. These three communities were combined in 1965 and called the European Communities (EC). Finally, with signature of the Maastricht Treaty, it became the European Union (EU).

Turkey-EU relations initiated in 1959 at the time that Turkey applied for Associate Membership of the EEC. In 1963, Ankara Agreement was signed between Turkey and the EEC which constitutes the legal basis of the association between Turkey and the EEC. Moreover, the Customs Union between Turkey and the EU was decided by the Turkey-EC Association Council and entered into force in January 1996. Turkey gained the candidate status in 1999 and the Accession Negotiations between Turkey and the EU have started in October 2005 even though they are de facto en halt since 2018.

The European Union is the best example of European economic, social, cultural and political integration with its 27 member states, candidate and potential candidate countries. On the other hand, Turkey-EU relations constitute one of the most important parts of the Turkish Foreign Policy since more than 60 years. Hence, the European Studies Application and Research Center (FBUCES) will mainly focus on the EU while doing social, cultural, economic and historical research on the European continent and its surrounding. FBUCES also aims at watching the decisions and reports of the Council of Europe, the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); conducting public opinion polls, surveys, field search; publishing national and international periodicals or books; creating and managing national and international projects; and holding national and international congresses, conferences, seminars, symposiums, workshops, panels, summer schools, trainings and training programmes with certificates.

 

                                                                                                             Asst.Prof. Nihan Akıncılar Köseoğlu