Türkiye, the EU, and the Double-Edged Sword of Security Discourses and Populism

Türkiye, the EU, and the Double-Edged Sword of Security Discourses and Populism: Turbulence and Ties examines how populism, securitization, and emerging global challenges are reshaping relations between Türkiye and the European Union in an era of growing geopolitical uncertainty.Bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives from political science, international relations, and security studies, this edited volume explores the evolving dynamics of Türkiye-EU relations through themes including migration, gender politics, cybersecurity, digital sovereignty, climate governance, and democratic backsliding. Combining theoretical innovation with empirical analysis, the contributors draw on concepts such as populist securitization, transactionalism, ontological security, and norm diffusion to examine how crises, identities, and security discourses influence cooperation and conflict across Europe and its neighbourhood.This book will appeal to students and scholars of European politics, International Relations, security studies, and Turkish politics, as well as policymakers and practitioners interested in the future of Türkiye-EU relations and contemporary global security challenges.

Veli Özdemir is an adjunct faculty member at Işık University, Türkiye. He completed his doctoral studies at Marmara University Institute of European Studies in 2023 and serves as editor of the Marmara Journal of European Studies. His project, TRUCE, was awarded the MSCA 2025 Seal of Excellence. His research interests include the far right, populism, securitization, and Türkiye-EU relations.Fatmanur Kaçar Aşcı is Assistant Professor at Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye. She completed her PhD at the Marmara University in 2021. She studies the discursive and multimodal construction of right-wing populism in European politics, and examines the political dynamics of Türkiye–EU relations through qualitative and analytical approaches. She is a member of two COST Action Working Groups on European politics.