The Eurocrisis has infused yet more alienation into the already detached relations between the EU and Turkey, formally still involved in accession talks. Many Turks look at the trouble-stricken and enfeebled Union with an overt sense of Schadenfreude. And they relish at their own robust growth, which has kept apace irrespective of the stalled accession negotiations. Turkey feels empowered: no longer on the European periphery, but at the centre of its own world spanning from North Africa and the Middle East all the way to the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia. The Arab Awakening seemingly vindicates this vision, though turmoil in Syria has exposed the limits of Ankara's influence. But crises present opportunities too. It is precisely from the depths of the Union's ongoing drama that a “post-hubris” Turkey could rise from its ashes if and as it is brought organically into the conversation on the future shape of the European integration experiment.

Paper produced within the framework of the project Turkey, Europe and the World. Publ. in IAI Research Paper 9.