Turkey applied to join the European Economic Community (EEC) on 31 July 1959, barely a year after the Treaty of Rome creating the Community had entered into force. The decision to apply was taken exclusively for political reasons. Relations between Turkey and Greece had deteriorated sharply after the first of many crises erupted over the Crown Colony of Cyprus, the UK government having made it clear that it was going to vacate the island as part of the gradual demise of the British Empire. Greece had applied to join the Community in June 1959. It was therefore important for the then leaders of the Turkish Republic to do the same, so as not to be left behind.

The response of the EEC to both countries was that they were not ready for membership, because their economies were at a much lower level of development than that of the six original members of the Community. Instead, the two applicant countries each signed an Association Agreement with the EEC, Greece in June 1961 in Athens, Turkey on 12 September 1963 in Ankara. The agreements were similar in their structure. Each country was offered a process of gradual economic integration that would prepare it for a customs union, to be completed at an (originally unspecified) date and that would, in turn, serve as a stepping stone to full membership of the Community.

It cannot be sufficiently stressed that economic integration and the establishment of a customs union were not perceived as being ends in themselves but, rather, as instruments to prepare the two countries for full membership of the Community. In the case of Turkey, this objective was explicitly recognized in the Preamble to the Association Agreement, which stated, “Recognizing that the support given by the European Economic Community … will facilitate the accession of Turkey to the Community at a later date.” Article 28 of the same agreement further stated that, “As soon as the operation of this Agreement has advanced far enough to justify envisaging full acceptance by Turkey of the obligations arising out of the Treaty establishing the Community, the Contracting Parties shall examine the possibility of the accession of Turkey to the Community” (emphasis added).