Abstract

The aim of this article is to contribute to the current debate on European Union (EU) democracy promotion (DP) in general and in Turkey in particular. Starting from the existing hypotheses in the literature, we analyse the potential effectiveness of EU DP in Turkey in the period which followed the so called «enlargement fatigue» (post- 2005) until the last developments in bilateral relations following the migration crisis and the attempted coup. We show how a combination of structural factors and policy decisions, on the EU side, gradually leading to a transformation of Turkey from a country subjected to EU DP to a "de facto" strategic partner, constrained the Union's potential effectiveness as a democracy promoter.