The thesis provides a multilevel analysis of how democratic ideas of post-secularism can result in undemocratic policies of anti-secularism. Although AKP initially supported as a cure to Turkey's...Show moreThe thesis provides a multilevel analysis of how democratic ideas of post-secularism can result in undemocratic policies of anti-secularism. Although AKP initially supported as a cure to Turkey's existing problems resulted from Kemalist secularism, and this approach is supported by the EU in the process of integration, the unexpected result is the authoritarian desecularization and populist Islamization of policies in Turkey. The thesis analyzes the desecularization of policies under AKP in three main areas of education, family, and the public sphere.Show less
Parallels have been drawn between a catholic marriage and the relationship between the EU and Turkey. Every time the relationship appears to be on the brink of divorce a closer step towards Turkey...Show moreParallels have been drawn between a catholic marriage and the relationship between the EU and Turkey. Every time the relationship appears to be on the brink of divorce a closer step towards Turkey's accession is made. In this sense, the EU-Turkey relationship is in historical institutionalist terms path dependent. The institutionalisation of this relationship has meant that divorce incurs a high cost and is, therefore, unlikely to happen. Theoretical explanations have been given for and against Turkey's accession, but these are unable to explain the fluidity of this relationship. Concentrating on history and how arguments are historically and contextually conditioned, this thesis incorporates a historical institutionalist framework to explain the decision-making by the EU in deepening its path dependent relationship with Turkey in order to aid in understanding EU enlargement and in particular Turkey's EU accession process. Two critical junctures of the periods from 1997-1999 and 2011-2016 will be analysed to reveal the central elements which explain the EU's decision-making. This analysis will examine EU documents concerning Turkish accession such as presidency conclusions, statements of the EU Heads of State or Government and international agreements between Turkey and the EU. In addition, this research will also draw on the already existing academic literature and use statements from the media and from leading figures to reflect on Turkey's accession. Through using a historical institutionalist approach this thesis makes an original contribution in arguing that Europe's enlargement approach has become vulnerable to reverse conditionality, fostering a path dependent relationship. The EU sees Turkey as a strategic ally rather than as an equal partner. Enlargement in the case of Turkey was initially used to incentivise Turkey to cooperate and has, therefore, been the EU's most powerful source of leverage. However, this use of enlargement has made the EU vulnerable to the implementation of reverse conditionality. As soon as accession loses its significance divorce could be immanent unless the couple can find a compromise to settle on a different kind of relationship.Show less
Turkey is located in a very peculiar geographic location, which has reflected itself on the country’s foreign affairs. While its foreign policy was dominated by a Western-oriented outlook since the...Show moreTurkey is located in a very peculiar geographic location, which has reflected itself on the country’s foreign affairs. While its foreign policy was dominated by a Western-oriented outlook since the country’s foundation, this had changed following the election of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) into power in 2002. Since then, Turkey had undertaken a specific foreign policy approach under its new leadership, which was based on the book ‘Strategic Depth’ written by Prof. Dr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, who has since been considered the mastermind of the AK Party’s foreign policy vision. However, in light of recent developments seen in the country’s foreign affairs, it is possible to detect some stark differences from the soft power vision then and the one seen in a contemporary context. Considering the lack of up-to-date analyses on these divergences, this thesis attempts to uncover how Turkey’s foreign policy vision today can be differentiated from the one referenced in Ahmet Davutoğlu’s book ‘Strategic Depth’, based on the development of the country’s foreign policy under the AK Party and following the outbreak of the Arab Spring.Show less
Turkey has applied to be member of the European Community already in 1987. Up to this day however, it has not joined and the negotiations have come to a halt. The debate about whether Turkey should...Show moreTurkey has applied to be member of the European Community already in 1987. Up to this day however, it has not joined and the negotiations have come to a halt. The debate about whether Turkey should join the European Union and whether it is compatible with its community has been highly politicised over the last years. The discussion usually revolves around whether Turkey is Eu- ropean enough to be a part of the Union, whether it fulfils all the fundamental criteria to join on an economic, political and social level as well as whether Turkey’s membership would bring about a form of cultural clash. The discourse around the topic and the language employed by policy makers has so far not been as well researched. This paper therefore explores the following research questi- on: “What is the role of an ‘othering’ discourse in the Turkey EU membership negotiations?”. It explores the theoretical framework of Othering and how it connects to the concept of Orientalism. Building on how Europe historically defines itself against an Other, both sides will be analysed on their language. Using methods of critical discourse analysis, the language of Turkish and EU insti- tutional policy makers is examined. Based on this research, tentative conclusions are drawn about the underlying meaning of speeches and remarks and how they fit into the framework of Othering.Show less
On 18 March 2016, the EU – Turkey Statement was conducted by the heads of states or governments of the EU and Ahmed Davutoğlu, Turkish minister of foreign affairs, with the aim to control irregular...Show moreOn 18 March 2016, the EU – Turkey Statement was conducted by the heads of states or governments of the EU and Ahmed Davutoğlu, Turkish minister of foreign affairs, with the aim to control irregular migration from the Aegean Sea towards the European Union. Yet, concerns have been raised regarding the compliance of the EU – Turkey Statement with human rights. Human rights have to be respected in the EU member states as well as in Turkey. When Turkey does not respect these rights, it cannot be considered as safe. As long as Turkey cannot be considered as a safe third country, the EU – Turkey Statement will violate the law of the European Union. This would not only have consequences for the current Statement, but also for similar statements conducted in the near future in which the EU – Turkey Statement might serve as a blueprint for human rights violations. To that end, the aim of this thesis is to examine the compatibility of the EU – Turkey Statement with international and European law, based on human dignity, the right to asylum, the principle of non-refoulement and the assumption of Turkey as a safe third country. The legal examination resulted in the main findings that the EU – Turkey Statement shows malfunctions on the upholding of human rights in the European Union and that Turkey cannot be considered as a safe third country. This because Turkey is part of the Geneva Convention with geographical limitation, the absence for non-Europeans to be granted with asylum in Turkey, a history of violations concerning the non-refoulement principle and serious concerns for inhuman or degrading treatment. In other words, the EU – Turkey Statement is not in accordance with European law and does not safeguard human rights.Show less
This paper aims to examine EU’s power as an influencer against revisionist actors in its immediate proximity, especially through conditionality and socialization and their possible side effects, an...Show moreThis paper aims to examine EU’s power as an influencer against revisionist actors in its immediate proximity, especially through conditionality and socialization and their possible side effects, an idea which has not been examined adequately in academia thus far. Initially the concept of power in IR will be introduced with a special mention to its European form. Afterwards, the EU’s relationship with two revisionist regional actors (Turkey and Russia) is explored. The first case, examines the EU’s handling of Turkey during the displacement crisis and the latter’s shift towards authoritarianism. It will be shown that despite the fact that the EU has managed to dramatically decrease the influx of people in its territory, it has paid a steep political cost domestically and internationally. The second case shows how Russian preferential treatment to certain member-states impeded a unified approach from the EU. Only after the events in Ukraine a unilateral approach was agreed. Both cases show that the European understanding and usage of power is limited and prohibits the development of an ambitious policy mainly due to the current level of European integration and member-states will. Such results are important as they not only show current limitations of the EU’s policy-making, but also highlight some of the areas that require amelioration in order to enhance the EU’s capabilities in todays’ challenges.Show less
The EU-Turkey Deal concluded on the 18th of March 2016 has as its main goal the reduction of irregular migration. It is the latest evidence of the increasing externalization of the European Union’s...Show moreThe EU-Turkey Deal concluded on the 18th of March 2016 has as its main goal the reduction of irregular migration. It is the latest evidence of the increasing externalization of the European Union’s asylum policies which is achieved through the conclusion of agreements between the Union and third countries regarding asylum processes. It allows the EU to maintain control over entries into its territory and the asylum process, yet questions have arisen regarding its ability to uphold the rights of asylum seekers and provide respect for fundamental human rights. Under Article 80 TFEU, Union policies are to be governed by the principles of solidarity and responsibility sharing within the European Union and in its relation to the wider world. The EU-Turkey Deal implies Turkey’s status as a Safe Third Country on the basis of Article 38 of the Asylum Procedure Directive under the Common European Asylum System. A failed military coup, a violent breakdown and a refugee population of 2.8 million people of which most are without basic needs all hint toward Turkey’s inability to be designated a Safe Third Country. Many angles to the EU Turkey Deal have been examined, except for its conformity with international and European law. This is where this research paper comes in. It examines Turkey status as a Safe Third Country and investigate its conformity with and ability to uphold the principles of solidarity and responsibility sharing and provide respect for fundamental human rights. To that end, this research paper analyses primary legal sources combined with NGO reports to deconstruct Turkey’s status as a Safe Third Country. An argumentative legal dogmatic methodology examines whether Turkey was in compliance with obligations arising out of international, European and Turkish legal sources. The findings of this analysis are combined with the analysis of the most important court cases of the European Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Justice and NGO reports. This research papers’ main finding is that Turkey cannot be designated as a Safe Third Country and that the Deal violates international and European law. This because Turkey is in breach of three essential requirements to be designated a Safe Third Country; it does not respect the principle of nondiscrimination, it does not respect the principle of non-refoulement and it does not provide for access to the asylum procedure. This results in an inability of the Deal and Turkey to uphold the rights of asylum seekers and to provide for solidarity and responsibility sharing.Show less
In the last several years, Turkey’s relationship with the EU has strongly deteriorated over the country’s equally deteriorating human rights conditions. However, there was a time when Turkey was...Show moreIn the last several years, Turkey’s relationship with the EU has strongly deteriorated over the country’s equally deteriorating human rights conditions. However, there was a time when Turkey was dedicated to its reform process for the purpose of EU accession. As the EU views itself as a normative power, and it had been relatively successful in advancing minority rights in the CEECs, why had it not been able to do the same in Turkey? This thesis researched: why was the EU unable to advance the Aramean property cases during the height of Turkey’s accession negotiations (2005-2011)? It tested this question based on Nye’s (2008) use of smart power, wherein public diplomacy plays a central role. Additionally, it tested Schimmelfennig & Sedelmeier’s (2004) application of carrots and sticks in the case of EU accession. It found that, with regard to Turkey in the Aramean property case, the EU failed to engage in public diplomacy and lacked credibility to effectively apply its carrots and sticks against Turkey.Show less
The debate surrounding the headscarf ban in Turkey has been omnipresent since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk came to power in 1923. After 624 years under Ottoman rule, the Turkish people were offered a new...Show moreThe debate surrounding the headscarf ban in Turkey has been omnipresent since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk came to power in 1923. After 624 years under Ottoman rule, the Turkish people were offered a new secular Republican nation-State. Ataturk presented his six principles- republicanism, secularism, nationalism, populism, statism and reformism, altogether constituting Kemalism- as the much-needed vehicle for the modernization of society (Karabelias,2009). These ideologies initiated the ongoing search for identity in which Turkey finds itself today- between global aspirations and the local realities. For women, the reformist principle was translated into a ban of the headscarf in public spaces. This ban was seen as an attack on Islamist women’s freedom and access to public spaces such as universities and political organs, and recently some women’s movements in the 1980s and 1990s turned their activism toward ending the headscarf ban. However women did not always agree on the terms of this lack of visibility. For example, both feminist groups working in the public sphere and Islamic women’s groups acting within religious political parties are against the ban, as it prevents women from being represented in politics and limits right as woman (Cubukçu,2009). However, discourse shows that on the one hand, Islamic women do not support the ban because the veil is a fundamental aspect of their religion. On the other hand, feminist movements support lifting the ban so long as the old rule, where women live as men’s property, is not reinstated. (Cubukçu et al. 2004: 2012). These women fight the same battle but do not have the same rationale. Their campaign to end the headscarf ban stands between a global understanding of human rights - including women’s rights - and a local social reality concerning the needs of religious women. The research question for this dissertation is twofold: What is the tension between the local and the global in gender issues in Turkey? What role did women play in activism for human rights in the 1980s and the 1990s?Show less
Informed by ethnographic research the purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of Turkish women who consume Korean popular culture with regards to their identity formation and how it...Show moreInformed by ethnographic research the purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of Turkish women who consume Korean popular culture with regards to their identity formation and how it relates to the possible transformation of Turkish patriarchal society. The argument made in this study is that people in the K-Wave community have a skewed interpretation of South Korea, because of their admiration of the country through the K-Wave they are exposed to, but that this misconception has an impact on their resistance against patriarchy in their own country. This study argues that it is a two-edged sword: on the one hand K-Wave reinforces patriarchy through the messages it conveys, on the other hand it creates an imaginary space to which women can escape from their daily lives and encourages them to resist the socially defined masculine domination.Show less
The European Union has identified a lack of energy supply security. In terms of importing natural gas, the EU is highly dependent on Russia, an energy partner deemed as unreliable by the EU due to...Show moreThe European Union has identified a lack of energy supply security. In terms of importing natural gas, the EU is highly dependent on Russia, an energy partner deemed as unreliable by the EU due to multiple reasons. Therefore, the EU has stated the objective of improving its energy security, most notably through diversification of energy supply. As a solution, the EU is looking at Turkey as an energy transit partner to reduce dependency on Russia. But is Turkey a viable solution to the EU’s objective of gaining energy security through diversification of energy supply? The literature has yet to pay sufficient attention to the basis political principles which have to be met by the EU’s new energy partner. This thesis uses securitization theory and a discourse analysis focused on ‘frames’ to demonstrate that the EU acknowledges its threat related to energy security and pushes Turkey forward as their new energy partner. Consequently, this research fills the gap in the literature by predominantly focusing on political arguments related to Turkey’s (un)stability and (un)reliability to conclude that by hailing Turkey as their new energy partner, the EU risks falling into the trap of not learning lessons from the past: Turkey’s reliability might be(come) just as problematic as Russia’s.Show less
