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361. Turkey-EU Relations: Beyond the Current Stalemate

Author:
Ziya Öniş
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The prospects for Turkey's ambitions for full EU membership do not appear to be very bright in the current conjuncture. The “grand coalition for special partnership” appears to be firmly entrenched. With key chapters for negotiation already suspended what is likely to happen is that the government in power is likely to pursue a loose Europeanization agenda of gradual reforms falling considerably short of deep commitment for full-membership. The paper investigates the underlying reasons for the decline of enthusiasm for EU membership following the golden age of Europeanization and reforms during the early years of the AK Party government. The article also points to domestic and external developments which may help to reverse the current stalemate and, hence, ends with an optimistic note concerning the future of Turkey-EU relations.
Topic:
Development
Political Geography:
Turkey

362. Turkey and the EU: Democratization, Civil-Military Relations, and the Cyprus Issue

Author:
Kıvanç Ulusoy
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The paper analyzes Turkey's democratization efforts between 2004 and 2008. In addition to the challenges that the EU accession process brings to the Turkish political structure, an assessment of the current impasse of Turkey's democratization along the EU accession process is made with respect to the detailed analysis of two major issues: the Cyprus issue and civil-military relations. With an eye to studying the EU's impact on the domestic politics of accession countries with special reference to Turkey, the paper concentrates on the current government's performance over the past three years in EU accession negotiations, showing how this immediate experience reveals the main problematical issues of Turkey-EU relations under these two headings. The concluding remarks focus on two crucial problems of the post-2004 period in Turkey: the sustainability of the reform process and the importance of the time factor in evaluating the EU's leverage on democratization.
Political Geography:
Turkey and Cyprus

363. Explaining Transformation of Turkish Civil Society in the EU Accession Process

Author:
Ahmet Arabaci
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
This study investigates the relationship between the announcement of Turkey's EU candidacy status at the EU's Helsinki Summit in 1999, and the development and transformation of Turkish civil society organizations (CSOs). It is argued that theories of historical institutionalism and rational choice institutionalism provides a useful framework for explaining the changes that took place in the number and institutional structures of Turkish CSOs. Historical institutionalism helps explain how the EU's affirmation of Turkey's EU candidacy has served as a critical juncture for the evolution of path dependency for Turkish CSOs. The economic reforms and democratization driven by Turkey's accession process are given special attention in this respect. Rational choice institutionalism will be employed to explain structural transformations within Turkish CSOs, and their considerable dependence on the funds provided by the EU.
Topic:
Development
Political Geography:
Turkey

364. Researching Turkey: Activities, trajectories and reconfigurations

Author:
Leonard Stone
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Within the context of political narratives, this paper surveys the major contours of research on the Republic of Turkey. It looks at research spaces and research directions, or trajectories and at particular contentious spaces – e.g. the concept of national interest. The article further highlights the difference between realist accounts and multidisciplinary models of understanding and interpretation, the interconnectivity of academia and bureaucracy and then proceeds to reconfigure (remap) the Middle East within a Greater Eurasia. Throughout there is an emphasis on shifting context(s). Turkey's own relations with the Middle East are referenced, as are a number of selected research obstacles. The conclusion focuses on key markers in socio-political research into the Republic.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Israel

365. The Decline of Turkish-American Relations under the Bush Administration and Opportunities for the Final Two Years

Author:
Melissa Maxey
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Turkey and the United States are close historic allies. Turkish-American relations have, of course, not been perfect. Two main issues have caused small problems throughout the duration of the partnership. Yet the relationship did begin to change under the administration of American President George W. Bush. The United States must shift its policy toward Turkey to stop the downward direction of relations. It must respond to Turkish internal and external pressures. To succeed it needs to work towards resolutions of current and past problems and allow Turkey to fully develop its own leadership role and position as a prominent member of the Europe and the Middle East.
Political Geography:
United States, America, Europe, and Turkey

366. Northern Iraq and its Neighbors: The regional dimension of the Kurdish question

Author:
Ole Frahm
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Northern Iraq has seen ethnic mobilization and violent political conflict since the creation of the current state system in the interwar period. Throughout this period, Iraq's Kurds have rejected attempts of various governments to assimilate and absorb them into their pan-Arab ideologies. The underlying fear on behalf of Turkey's government is that an independent Kurdistan would have an osmotic effect and automatically strengthen irredentist and pan-Kurdish segments and sentiments among Turkish Kurds and in a worst case scenario lead to a renewed intra-state conflict between separatists and the state on the scale of the early 1990s.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
Iraq and Turkey

367. Turkey, Cyprus and the European Division

Author:
Rebecca Bryant
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
More than three years after the opening of the ceasefire line that divides Cyprus, the island is closer than ever to rupture. When the Green Line first opened in April 2003, there was an initial period of euphoria, as Cypriots flooded in both directions to visit homes and neighbors left unwillingly behind almost three decades before. But a year later, when a UN plan to reunite the island came to referendum, new divisions emerged. While Turkish Cypriots voted in favor of the plan, their Greek Cypriot compatriots rejected it in overwhelming numbers. Visits stalled, and today social relations are mired in an increasingly divisive politics.
Topic:
Politics and United Nations
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Cyprus

368. The Cyprus Policy of the CHP: Change or Continuation?

Author:
Seckin Baris Gulmez
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
This work will discuss the views of the current main opposition party in Turkey on Cyprus problem focusing on the three main areas of criticisms raised by the party officials. Accordingly, in comparison with the policies adopted by its predecessors, the article will try to find an answer to the question whether the Cyprus policy of today's CHP constitute a change from or continuation of those of the CHP in the past.
Political Geography:
Turkey

369. What Turkey teaches about democracy

Author:
Melkulangara Kumaran Bhadrakumar
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The 85-year-old Turkish state finds itself at a crossroads. But the implications of Erdoğan's final choice go far beyond Turkey's borders. Turkey's standing as a regional powerhouse, its strategic location as a bridge between Europe and the Middle East, its historical and cultural heritage in the Muslim world – all these are bound to come into play in the coming months. The crucial importance of what is unfolding in Turkey lies in that, to quote former Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami in a recent article, "Engaging political Islam will need to be the central part of any successful strategy for the Middle East. Instead of sticking to doomsday prophecies of categorical perspectives that prevent an understanding of the complex fabric of Islamic movements, the West needs to keep the pressure on the incumbent regimes to stop circumventing political reform."
Topic:
Islam and Reform
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and Israel

370. Main Costs and Benefits of Turkish Accession to the European Union

Author:
Fuat Canan
Publication Date:
04-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
This paper focuses on examining what sort of costs and benefits are involved in Turkey's accession process into the European Union (EU) by addressing related discussions in Turkey and aims at reflecting a general Turkish costbenefit motivation perspective. From European perspective, Turkey-EU debates are to a large extent based on costs of Turkish accession, whereas in Turkey, EU-Turkey discourse is to a large extent dominated by benefits of accession. Secondly, as can be observed from public opinion polls held in Turkey, Turkish people do not really know how the EU would affect their lives. They lack a cost-benefit analysis of EU accession even in its simplest form and are not well informed about possible consequences of accession. A more open debate would be helpful in addressing the real costs and benefits of EU membership.
Political Geography:
Europe and Turkey