The relations between Turkey-EU have never been easy due to the challenges on both sides of the negotiations table that have complicated the accession process. Since the opening of accession negotiations in 2005, the EU has lost much of its leverage with Turkey as the EU itself has been forced to deal with numerous challenges including: constitutional referendums, Eurozone crises and the integration of newly joined members while defining its global role. With the lack of EU’s enthusiasm and also dramatic changes in the political atmosphere in Turkey the democratization process has largely halted and the Turkey-EU relations have entered into a stalemate. Despite several reenergizing efforts such as creating a “positive agenda” and establishing Turkey-EU reinforcement teams comprised of experts, academics, journalists and bureaucrats, these efforts have been unable to revitalize the accession negotiations. However, the recent refugee protection crisis has caused Turkey-EU relations to acquire a more complicated yet strategic dimension. This tragic challenge may provide an important opportunity to reinvigorate the accession negotiations and it can keep the accession process alive.