The paper focuses on the question as to whether or not the current level of corruption
in Turkey constitutes a major drawback for EU membership. After elaborating on the
different types of corruption in Turkey, the paper argues that a full-scale anticorruption
strategy should include not only policing-type regulations and improved
institutional structures, but also systemic reforms to deal with patron-client
networking, informality and tax evasion. Assuming that the EU-anchor will continue
to be important, the EU’s impact on combating corruption in Turkey will be greater
to the extent that the EU manages to better understand the full picture in Turkey with
regard to corruption.