Turkey and Europe: Negotiating Identities through History

Turkey’s and Europe’s perceptions of each other play a pivotal role in shaping their relations at present. It is often argued that Turkey is Europe’s Other, that Islam and Europe / the West are incompatible and hence that the EU will never admit Turkey as a member. Such simplistic views do not, however, do justice to the complex, fluid and contested evolution of this intimate and emotionally charged relationship. Starting with the Ottoman Empire’s attempts to associate itself with “European civilization” in the nineteenth century, this presentation will analyze mutual identity representations in Turkey and Europe during select cultural encounters, such as Sultan Abdulaziz’s visit to Europe and the Paris World Fair in 1866, a Turkish woman’s victory in the Miss Universe competition in 1932, and the release of the movie Midnight Express in 1978.