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741. How the West Was Won: China\'s Expansion into Central Asia

Author:
Henryk Szadziewski
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Institution:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Abstract:
In the People\'s Republic of China, the Great Western Development Drive has been promoted as a solution to the economic inequalities that exist between the eastern and western regions of the country. Although the initiative has overt economic objectives, these are accompanied by political objectives of internal security in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, an area also known as East Turkestan. The Great Western Development Drive also works in conjunction with China\'s economic and political objectives for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. As a bridge to the markets of Central Asia, the Great Western Development Drive in East Turkestan has built an infrastructure with which China can export goods and import natural resources. Greater economic cooperation between Central Asia and China has also permitted the silencing of Uyghur dissent in Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states. The net result of China\'s expansion into Central Asia for Uyghurs in the region and in East Turkestan has been economic and political marginalization, most notably in the visible exclusion from the policies and projects of the Great Western Development Drive.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
China, Turkey, and Asia

742. Ulusaşırı Yandaşlık Ağbağları Perspektifinden Türkiye\'de Demokratikleşme, İnsan Hakları ve Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları

Author:
Bican Şahin and Mete Yildiz
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to examine the cooperation between the foreign and domestic NGOs that work in the realm of democratization and human rights in Turkey. The theoretical framework is provided by the literature on “transnational advocacy networks”. Archival research and semi-structured in-depth interviews with the representatives of both foreign and national NGOs are employed as the two main methodological approaches. The findings show that these NGOs share resources such as power, information, experience and money in order to overcome limitations in their political and social environments.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
Turkey

743. Türk Dış Politikasında Zorlayıcı Diplomasi

Author:
Elif Hatun Kiliçbeylşa
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
Gündelik dilde ve akademik kullanımda “Diplomasi” kavramı çok çeşitli tanımlara sahiptir. Neredeyse her Siyaset Bilimi düşünürünün, teorisyenin; her devlet başkanı, her dışişleri bakanının ve hatta her diplomatın kendi farklı tanımı vardır. En genel tanımıyla Diplomasi, en az iki devlet arasında, var olan veya potansiyel sorun olabilecek konularda karşılıklı diyalog ve müzakere yoluyla sorunun çözümüne yönelik her türden çabayı ifade etmektedir. Oysa bu genel tanımda belirtilen diyalog ve müzakerenin her zaman dış politikada tek araç/yöntem olduŞunu söylemek güçtür. Kimi zaman diyalog ve müzakerenin dilini “güç”e dayandırmak gerekir. Böylesi bir durumda Temel şskit'in ifadesiyle, “'zorlayıcı güç' diplomasinin mi yoksa dış politikanın mı aracıdır?” sorusu akla gelmektedir. Devletler diplomatik müzakerelerin çıkmaza girdiŞi durumlarda kuvvet kullanmaya dayalı bir “etki” yönteminden yararlanmayı pek çok açıdan tercih edebilirler.
Topic:
Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Turkey

744. The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkish Parliamentary Debates (1992-1995): A Constructivist Approach

Author:
Didem Ekinci
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
While fully engaged in efforts of suppressing the armed violence in the former Yugoslavia at the turn of the century, Ankara could foresee the coming events, repeatedly called for immediate multilateral action, and argued adamantly about who the aggressor and victim were as opposed to the relevant ambiguity in the West. Central to policy formulations at political parties were Turkey's Balkan heritage/identity, stance against aggression, and the significance of Balkan routes for Turkey. Drawing upon detailed empirical data obtained from parliamentary discussions in three frames, this study examines under which circumstances the Turkish 'state', its identity, interests and intersubjectivities we re at work shaping Turkey's foreign policy towards Bosnia. Finally, it is emphasized that Ankara's foreign policy towards the war was competent despite coalition governments composed of different political mainstreams.
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Herzegovina, Turkey, and Serbia

745. Türkiye Kamuoyu ve Avrupa Birliği 2001- 2008: Beklentiler, İstekler ve Korkular

Author:
Özgehan Şenyuva
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This study examines general trends of Turkish public opinion towards the European Union between 2001 and 2008. It uses the Euro Barometer data of the European Commission. The main research question focuses on overtime stability of the support for Turkey's membership to the EU. In parallel to the support for membership, the main contours of Turkish public perceptions towards EU and European identity are also examined. When the main attitudes towards the EU between 200 and 2008 are analyzed, it appears that the EU is significantly losing its credibility and support among Turkish citizens. The support for Turkish membership is also in decline and going through major fluctuations.
Topic:
Public Opinion
Political Geography:
Turkey and European Union

746. The Emergence of the 'Government's Perspective on the Kurdish Issue

Author:
Ümit Cizre
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The AK Party's chronic 'political insecurity' may have passed a threshold as the ruling party resurfaces as an actor taking advantage of its pro-European Union sentiments to begin a 'grand negotiation' with Turkey's thus-far publicly shunned Kurdish leaders after decades of bloodshed. This new window of opportunity could not have emerged without the explosion of the Ergenekon incident, which has offered a persuasive critique of the closed, dark, intolerant and secret communities friendly with the military bureaucracy and state officials but insidiously devoted to destroying the government. In the post-Ergenekon era, the new democratic opening represents a significant departure from a military solution to the Kurdish issue which has blocked civilian imaginations by declaring the Kurdish identity demands as a security threat to the officially proscribed Turkish identity. The real issue at stake now for the AK Party government is a redefinition of the locus and space where the phenomenon of real political power takes place in Turkey.
Topic:
Government and Politics
Political Geography:
Turkey and Kurdistan

747. The Kurdish Question: The Reasons and Fortunes of the 'Opening'

Author:
Cengiz Çandar
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
This commentary reflects on the Turkish government's recent 'opening' to address the Kurdish problem and the domestic, regional and international conditions that created a conducive environment for this initiative. It maintains that although the Turkish leadership has grasped the new dynamics of the regional and domestic developments and changed its conventional perception of the problem, the initiative is constrained by the fact that it is motivated by a concern to remove the violent aspect of the Kurdish question, i.e., terminating the Kurdish insurgency once and for all. It also suggests that despite the optimism generated by the opening to solve the Kurdish problem, the achievement of its ultimate objective is far more complex than seen at the first glance. The commentary places a special attention on the dilemmas encountered by the Democratic Society Party as it seeks to represent the demands of its predominantly Kurdish constituency.
Topic:
Government and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Turkey

748. Mapping the Pathways: Public Perception and Kurdish Question

Author:
Cemalettin Haşimi
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The Kurdish initiative announced by the governing Justice and Development Party has increased the discussions on the proper ways and forms of dealing with the Kurdish question in Turkey. The announcement acted as an opening of Pandora's box through which all different images of the problem began to be manifested simultaneously. Assuming that the public perception would have a direct impact on the trajectory of the implementation of the initiative, this essay examines different aspects of the public perception of the issue by relying on the findings of a joint survey conducted by SETA and Pollmark. It is contended that effective settlement of the Kurdish question requires encountering and resolving certain tensions in the public perceptions, which can be done by achieving a language in which the grammar of politics and the values that maintain social integration is more transitional and interdependent.
Topic:
Development
Political Geography:
Turkey and Kurdistan

749. Muslim Democratic Parties in Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco: An Economic Explanation

Author:
A. Kadir Yıldırım
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The recent emergence of Muslim democratic parties such as AKP in Turkey and PJD in Morocco draws attention to the perennial question on the moderation of Islamist parties yet again. Economic liberalization and the accompanying socioeconomic transformation underlie the democratic and liberal turn political Islam has taken in the Middle East. The precise nature of liberalization is critical to this moderation. Competitive liberalization, by enabling peripheral groups to benefit from liberalization, conduces to the renewed interest in democracy and a liberal system. Crony liberalization, by reinforcing the archaic rent-seeking relationship between the state and big business and continuing to marginalize the peripheral groups from politics and the economy, sustains the interest of peripheral groups in the reactionary discourse of Islamism. The strength of Muslim democratic parties is a reflection of competitiveness economic reforms introduce in the society and the economy.
Topic:
Islam
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Morocco

750. Globalization and the Crisis of Authoritarian Modernization in Turkey

Author:
Hasan Kösebalaban
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Conventional models developed through the conceptual lenses of modernization theory dating back to the 1960s, are no longer applicable to Turkish politics; they fall short of grasping the changes that Turkish ideologies experienced in recent decades. In the face of Turkey's growing democratization and societal modernization, Turkish secularists have lost their status as agents of reform and gradually emerged as defenders of the status quo in the face of the rapid mobilization of Anatolian-based conservative society. However, no factor was more responsible for this transformation than the comprehensive external and internal structural changes that Turkey experienced in the post-Cold War era, leading to the emergence of a globalist conservative ideology in large parts of Anatolia. This paper examines the question of why those who are commonly associated in Western scholarly discourse with progress and modernity, have fallen behind the Muslim conservatives in pursuit of democratization and further integration of the country with the West. The paper argues that at the root of the present conflict lies the tension between two modernization routes: a bureaucratic top-down modernization that has allowed the allocation of privileges to the secularist/nationalist elites, and the grassroots socio-economic mobilization of conservative societal elements benefiting from international integration and globalization.
Topic:
Cold War and Democratization
Political Geography:
Turkey