According to Turkey’s leadership, 2014 was to be the starting point for renewed and closer relations between the EU and Turkey. But the gradual rollback of democratic reforms has further exacerbated the already beleaguered relationship. Despite these developments, the European Commission’s recently published 2014 progress report was relatively lenient on Turkey: while it was very critical on the encroachment on civil liberties and judiciary independence, it praised the Kurdish peace process and suggested that Turkey should be named a strategic partner of the EU. But with the terrorist organisation ISIL at its doorstep, the peace talks between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots in tatters after Turkey signalled that it was planning to carry out seismic surveys on the edge of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and with parliamentary elections coming up in the spring of 2015, improving relations with the EU is just one of the many challenges ahead.