The Transformation Of Kurdish And Islamist Parties In Turkey

This book analyzes the transformation of ethnic and religious political parties in Turkey with special focus on their role in the country's democratization and regime changes. Turkey went through a process of autocratization under the rule of the AKP government over the last two decades. Scholars question the structural, agent-centered and cultural factors that led the country on this path, and provide the lessons learnt from this case for other cases of democratic decline or breakdown. This book contributes to this debate. It treats the three national elections (2002, 2007, 2015-June) as opportunities for democratization, in which the Islamist-successor AKP (in 2002, 2007) and the Kurdish-successor HDP (in 2015-June) managed to overcome identity politics and received the organized support from social groups outside of their traditional constituency. This book argues that in a semi-democratic context where repressive acts of the state (e.g. banning of parties, arresting politicians) have been subject to widespread public criticism, confronting the state becomes a salient issue. When these parties manage to frame this issue as one of democracy, they take ownership of it, and this then becomes an opportunity for democratizing the regime. This opportunity, yet, can be missed if the party follows an office-seeking strategy rather than a policy-seeking one. Pelin Ayan Musil is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Relations, Prague in the Czech Republic.

This book examines the decade in office of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its efforts to transform the Turkish republic toward a more Islamist-oriented system. If it succeeds, Turkey’s dramatic shift will be the most important change in the Middle East power balance since the 1979 Iranian revolution and will have equally devastating effects on Western interests. For more than 80 years Turkey has been ruled by the secular democratic structures created by Kemal Ataturk. Now, however, the rise of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its series of electoral victories are creating a new system. Whilst portraying itself as a centre-right reform party, the AKP has been accused of having an Islamist agenda. After almost a decade in power, there is serious evidence that this claim is true. At home, the AKP has been changing basic Turkish attitudes and institutions, from buying up a large portion of the country’s media to revising its laws, and even taking the lead in the writing of a new constitution. Internationally, Turkey has moved away from the West and Israel toward Iran and radical Islamist groups. While its intentions—and ability to fulfil them—are still unclear, the AKP has been leading the most important transformation of Turkey since the formation of the republic after World War I. This book systematically examines the AKP’s ideology, support base, actions in office, and goals. This book was published as a special issue of the Turkish Studies.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) were elected to power in 2002 and since then Turkish politics has undergone considerable change. This book is a comprehensive analysis of the AKP, in terms not just of its ideological agenda, but also of its social basis and performance in office in the main theatres of public policy – political reform, and cultural, economic and foreign policies. Based on an extensive analysis of official and party documents, interviews, academic sources and media coverage, the book outlines the main features of the current global debate on the relationship between Islam, Islamism and democracy. While most top AKP leaders come from an Islamist background, the party has behaved as a moderate, centre-right, conservative democratic party who are fully committed to democracy, a free market economy and Turkey’s EU membership. The book explores and analyses these changes in Turkish politics, and provides coverage of the workings of the contemporary Turkish political systems, policy and ideological issues that go to the heart of Turkish identity. Filling a gap in the existing Turkish and English literature on the subject, this book will be an important contribution to Political Science, particularly the areas of Turkish politics, Middle Eastern studies, Islamic studies and comparative politics.

INTRODUCTION.. 3 PART I 25 CHAPTER I 27 Glimpse into Conceptual Toolbox CHAPTER II 47 19th Century Reforms: The Tragedy of Turkish Soul CHAPTER III 91 Transformation of the AKP: A Puzzling and Eventful Journey Part II 95 CHAPTER IV.. 97 Reformism and Co-habitation with Secularist Establishment (2002-2007) CHAPTER V.. 135 Consolidation of Power and Disarticulation of Secularist Establishment (2007-2011) CHAPTER VI 175 From Electoral Hegemony to Systemic Domination (2011-2016) CHAPTER VII 207 2016-2021: Systemic Domination AKP IN POWER: A DIZZYING JOURNEY THROUGH CONSERVATISM.. 265 In this insightful book, Fatih Ceran offers a retrospective analysis of the two decade rule of AKP in Turkey and explores into the question on everyone’s mind: "How did we get here?" Putting the Securitization Approach of Copenhagen School at work and employing critical discourse analysis at every level Ceran provides a nuanced examination of the complex political and social dynamics that shaped contemporary Turkey. Samim AKGÖNÜL, University of Strasbourg With a focus on democratic rights that have been promoted and demoted by the same political figures as their collective and personal interests changed, the book provides on how the AKP first reformed and then drifted down the authoritaran path. İştar Gözaydın, ELIAMEP Fellow, Winner of Human Rights Award of University of Oslo This book sheds new light on Turkey’s transformation from an imperfect parliamentary democracy to an a la Turca presidential system and puts forward a multidimensional analysis on how the Political Islamists made inroads into country’s secularist political system and then obtained full contol over it. Ceran’s masterful and meticulous analysis is a must read for students and scholars of contemporary Turkey. Ahmet Erdi Ozturk, London Metropolitan University

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Turkey relentlessly persecuted any form of Kurdish dissent. This led to the radicalisation of an increasing number of Kurds, the rise of the Kurdish national movement and the PKK's insurgency against Turkey. Political activism by the Kurds or around Kurdish-related political demands continues to be viewed with deep suspicions by Turkey's political establishment and severely restricted. Despite this, the pro-Kurdish democratic movement has emerged, providing Kurds with a channel to represent themselves and articulate their demands. This book is timely contribution to the debate on the Kurds' political representation in Turkey, tracing the different forms it has taken since 1950. The book highlights how the transformations in Kurdish society have affected the types of actors involved in politics and the avenues, organisations and networks Kurds use to challenge the state. Based on survey data obtained from over 350 individuals, this is the first book to provide an in-depth analysis of Kurdish attitudes from across different segments of Kurdish society, including the elite, the business and professional classes, women and youth activists. It is an intimate portrait of how Kurds today are dealing with the challenges and difficulties of political representation.

Turkey's growing international profile, candidacy for the EU, and persistent democracy has led to a growing interest in how that country is governed. This book provides portraits of the seven main political parties by Turkish experts who are close observers of these institutions. In addition to providing an analytical survey of Turkish politics today, this volume also provides a fascinating case study on the problems of developing deep-rooted democracy, conflicts between state interests amd interest groups, and the evolution of party systems.

This book charts the economic, social and political rise of the Justice and Development Party (JDP) as well as its political resilience over the last sixteen years. Going beyond the standard dichotomy debate of political Islam versus secularism, the author shows how the JDP, a political party with substantial roots in political Islam, came to power in 2002 as an outcome of the socioeconomic transformation process that started in the country in the 1980s. The book further illustrates how the party consolidated its ruling power by catering to its core constituencies via a multifaceted set of policies that gave rise to the emergence of a powerful political machine. A careful analysis of the JDP’s policy agenda highlights the discrepancy between the party's discourse and its supply of policies. Furthermore, the author shows how the party has skilfully (re-)framed its ideological stance by changing alliances, and in analysing this hybrid ideological framing she presents key underpinnings of the party that paved the way to a fundamental restructuring of the Turkish party system and establishment of a new regime that replaced the old guard. This book will be of interest to academics, graduate students and researchers interested in comparative politics, political science and sociology.

At the start of the century Turkey maintains its ceaseless search for closer links with Europe. The essential mission of the Republic created by Mustafa Kemal after the First World War was the modernization of Turkey in accordance with the Western secular and democratic model. In Helsinki at the turn of the century Turkey was finally accepted as a candidate for EU membership and now hopes for, and expects, a new future. With this future in mind the authors of the studies in this book consider how prepared in various fields Turkey now is for the transformation in which it is engaged. Turkey's path in the twenty-first century will not be easy. There are serious issues to be faced in the management of the economy. In politics there are human rights and other problems deeply affecting Turkish democracy, and a Kurdish reality with which to come to terms. There are the problems to be faced of a revived Islam, the forward role of the military in its self-styled role as defender of the secular state, the need for the reform of the state's bureaucracy, the preservation of national unity, and the reform and development of turkey's democratic structure. Internationally Turkey lives in a volatile Middle Eastern and Central Asian environment, but one with which she has to deal politically and economically, particularly as Caspian and other energy sources are vital. Internally there are movements of population that are disrupting established social structures. These changes are reflected in literature and in the media. A new transformation is underway in Turkey. This book throws light on major factors of change in Turkish economics, politics and society. It uniquely pulls together Turkish experience over a wide area. It is promoted by the Turkish Area Study Group. - Back cover.