Conference Paper

2007 and 2008 have been turbulent years even for Turkish standards. Mass demonstrations against a possible president Abdullah Gül, a great election victory by the AKP (Justice and Development Party) and the election of Gül to president in 2007 followed by a closure case against the AKP, investigation against the terrorist network Ergenekon and increased terrorist activities and military actions throughout 2008. The result was a paralysis of the political system, a near standstill of reforms, however, the economy still seemed to be on track. The first months of 2009 were dominated by the regional elections, which were held on 29 March nation‐wide. This was a major reason why the effects of the economic crisis were downplayed by the government, because after years of high economic growth, increasing unemployment and very modest growth would not have been the best election campaign slogans. It is therefore expected that after the elections there will be more debate on the extense of the economic crisis, which hit Turkey being more integrated into the world‐market than ever and more and more export oriented. Parallelly to these economic problems, the government announced that 2009 will be again an EU year with more commitment to EU‐oriented reforms. Since 9 January 2009 Turkey finally has a chief negotiator and after the elections, work on the major reforms such as a new constitution was announced. What will be the impact that many European countries suffer from economic crisis on Turkey‐EU relations in 2009 if there is an impact at all? And how will Turkey cope with the economic crisis after the regional elections when the whole impact will be visible?