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301. Seeking Kant in the EU’s Relations with Turkey

Author:
Ali Murat Özdemir, Hakan Altinay, Jean-François Leguil-Bayart, Senem Aydın Düzgit, and Şeyla Benhabib
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
We believe European Union membership is in the interests of Turkey, the EU, and the global community. We are deeply concerned at the way the European Union is failing to respect the principles of equal treatment in its relations with Turkey. We do not argue that Turkey is ready for EU membership; and we recognise that Turkey has a lot to do, primarily regarding democratic governance, to make itself ready for membership. However, we also believe that increasingly discriminatory practices towards Turkey violate the Enlightenment principles upon which Europe itself is founded and endanger the formation of a Europe governed by Kantian ideals. This perspective necessitates identifying key events that gave rise to this concern during the period after the 1997 Luxembourg Summit. The main aim of this report is to examine the extent to which the EU has adhered to its official statements on fairness and equal treatment and whether or not the assertion that the EU has breached Kantian ideals is valid. The focus of this report will be two-fold. The first focus will be on the 'double standards' evident in the EU's policies towards Turkey, which we will point out by comparing the EU's treatment of Turkey with its treatment of other candidate countries. It is now widely accepted that there is a clear double standard in the way in which the EU deals with candidate-nations and member states, especially in areas such as human rights and the protection of minorities; the report will be on instances in which the EU has not kept key promises with Turkey or 'systematically distorted' communication has been abound in discussions over the issue. We believe that such an endeavour is imperative to see the way in which the EU today is deviating from the Kantian ideal of achieving a Europe without dividing lines, where 'you do as you would be done by.'
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements, Governance, European Union, Democracy, Regional Integration, and Immanuel Kant
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

302. Discussions and Recommendations on the Future of the Halki Seminary

Author:
Elçin Açar and Behice Özlem Gökakın
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Turkey has long discussed the “issue” of the Greek Patriarchate and the Halki Seminary. Such issues arise more frequently with globalization and Turkey’s EU candidacy. Recommendations on how to solve these issues have very often taken place in the media. Our approach is that in principle, this matter ought not to be recognized as a problem in democratic countries. We emphasize that non-Muslims have the right to educate/ train clergymen in accordance with the Treaty of Lausanne, which established the constituent agreement for Turkey, and also multilateral agreements/treaties signed thereafter which set out concepts such as minority rights, human rights, freedoms and democracies. We aim to provide recommendations based on some of the arguments in favor of a solution.
Topic:
Human Rights, Religion, Minorities, Democracy, Freedom, and Armenians
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

303. “Home Sweet Home:” Women and Men in the Democratization Process

Author:
Aksu Bora and Kadir Üstün
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
This study aims to map the relations between democratization and mind-setups, and focuses on gender as a powerful tool. The immediate answer to the gendered mind-sets in Turkey, would be that the norms and schemes that refer to gender relations are conservative and anti-democratic until they are shifted and even shattered by men and women in their daily life activities. Yet, this study shows that such and assumption is highly limited if not problematic: In order for the daily life experience to present an elbow room to exercise personal empowerment strategies, a capacity of subjectivity is necessary, and it has been observed that this capacity is fundamentally damaged for most people we have interviewed.
Topic:
Democratization, Gender Issues, Women, Men, Equality, and Subjectivity
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

304. Quo vadis Cyprus?

Author:
Ayla Gürel Moran, Mensur Akgün, Mete Hatay, and Sylvia Tiryaki
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Cyprus is one of the key issues in Turkish Foreign Policy today, probably even more so than it has ever been. A peaceful settlement that optimizes the needs and minimizes the concerns of both the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides is of utmost significance and urgency. A settlement is needed not only to enable Turkey to continue its path towards European accession, but also in order to establish and perpetuate a peaceful coexistence between the two communities on the island. The suspension of efforts to solve the Cyprus issue after the referendum on April 24, 2004, could pave the way for unwelcome developments in Turkey, the EU and in the region as a whole. Therefore TESEV see it as their mission to alert policy makers, opinion leaders and diplomats of the urgency of the issue. As has been stated previously on different occasions, TESEV has three major areas of activity: Democratization, Good Governance and Foreign Policy. There has been a dynamic wave of political, economic, judicial and legal reforms in Turkey vis-à-vis her prospective membership of the European Union. Internal dynamics for democratization, local governance, fiscal policies, transparency and judicial reform and new perspectives in foreign policy have been subjects of concern in this process. These subjects are also the determinants of TESEV’s major program axes. The Foreign Policy Program, one of TESEV’s three main program areas, has been dealing with the Cyprus issue at both governmental and non-governmental levels, with specific reference to the Annan Plan. We support the Annan Plan as the basis for a viable solution. This monograph provides a historical account of the problem and settlement efforts, elaborates the Annan Plan and provides some suggestions for the way forward.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Government, Territorial Disputes, and Referendum
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Cyprus, and Mediterranean

305. Justice and Home Affairs Issues in Turkish-EU Relations

Author:
Kemal Kirisçi
Publication Date:
01-2002
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Turkish-EU relations entered a new era with the decision to declare Turkey a candidate country for membership at the Helsinki summit of December 1999. i Since then the adoption of the Accession Partnership Document (APD) issued by the EU in December 2000ii and the National Programme issued in April 2001iii by the Turkish government have set an agenda of issues to be addressed in preparing Turkey’s accession. In general, considerable public attention has been given to the reform s that Turkey must introduce to meet the Copenhagen criteria and to foreign policy issues such as the question of Cyprus. One aspect of both documents that has received little attention is Justice and Home Affair (JHA) issues. JHA is an area of the European integration process that has not yet become supranational. Instead, member countries have preferred to address issues to do with JHA through intergovernmental cooperation. Nevertheless, an impressive level of EU acquis has been developed and candidate countries are expected to harmonise their legislation and practice to it. Central to JHA issues is asylum, irregular migration and visas. Once the geography of the EU became borderless for the citizens of member countries, the questions of common asylum and immigration policies acquired heightened importance. The need to coordinate policy increased and the EU has gradually edged toward a common asylum and immigration policy. The 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam includes a commitment by member states to develop such a policy within five years. Once this is achieved the development of common immigration and asylum policies will come under the Council of Ministers’ power.
Topic:
International Relations, Immigration, European Union, Justice, and Asylum
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

306. Enlarging the European Union: Where does Turkey Stand?

Author:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Publication Date:
01-2002
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
EU decision-making with regard to Turkey is interesting to examine in terms of European integration and enlargement issues. One basic assumption of the paper is that Turkey’s position in the enlargement process cannot be treated as an independent case on its own, but should be evaluated within the larger framework of enlargement. In other words, the EU’s reservations, the role of the EU public towards the process of enlargement, the bargains that will be conducted between member states during enlargement negotiations for all candidate countries affect Turkey’s position in the enlargement process. This is not to say that the EU does not have specific reservations and issues that relate only to the Turkish case, but that the picture is more complicated than a European Union-Turkish bilateral relationship. The factors that are relevant in this picture are the European Union’s policy making mechanisms, the role of public opinion, the EU’s institutional set-up and of course the EU member states’ preferences. This approach therefore differs from previous work on the subject by placing EU-Turkish relations within a multilateral framework of enlargement in general, rather than a binary relationship. Similarly, I have argued elsewhere in a work co-authored with Lauren McLaren, that Turkey’s relations with the European Union should be evaluated within a perspective of the enlargement preferences of EU members and policy making in the European Union. The assumption in that work was that member states’ preferences determine the outcome of bargains in the European Union’s policy of enlargement.
Topic:
International Relations, Treaties and Agreements, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

307. Turkey and Europe After the Nice Summit

Author:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Publication Date:
01-2002
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
While European Union attitudes on a possible Turkish accession are the subject of these reflections, the title is taken from President Turgut Özal. He used to tell those close to him that Turkey will either be at the table in Europe as a full member or it will find itself on the menu (Makovsky, 1999, 92). The Turkish perspective encapsulated in both parts of this aphorism also provides a good starting point for West and East Europeans interested in what is at stake.
Topic:
International Relations, Treaties and Agreements, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

308. Building a Partnership, Turkey and the European Union

Author:
David Barchard
Publication Date:
01-2000
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
This paper is an attempt to identify some of the main practical issues and themes involved in Turkey's accession process in the run-up to the appearance of the Accession Partnership document in early November 2000. It is also an attempt to explore ways of bridging the gap between Turkish and EU attitudes on the political issues that have to be resolved before full membership negotiations can be started.
Topic:
International Relations, European Union, Partnerships, and Regional Integration
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean