Turkey constitutes a unique example of external differentiated integration with the European Union, characterized by extensive legal instruments, drivers of interdependence, and voluntary compliance with EU rules. Turkey’s relations with the EU date back to the 1963 Association Agreement, with a customs union for industrial products established in 1995. Turkey’s accession negotiations, which began in 2005, were frozen in 2018 due to political backsliding in the country. Despite the current stall in Turkey’s accession process, there is a high degree of asymmetric interdependence between Turkey and the EU. Turkey acts as a rule-taker in its relations with the EU, shaped by its alignment with the EU acquis and adoption of EU rules, without full membership.

This paper aims to assess whether the current state of Turkey’s fragile relations with the EU is feasible as a functional model of external differentiated integration. Turkey’s EDI provides an innovative framework for keeping the country anchored to the European order, where neither full membership nor a complete break seems plausible.