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This paper offers a critical review of an interdisciplinary body of research on Islam and democracy and develops theory in order to explain the emergence of Turkey?s ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party) and to interpret to what extent this contributes to Turkey?s liberal-democratic consolidation. The paper shows that the AKP has so far featured a significantly more liberal-democratic and pro-West discourse and program than its predecessors have. It identifies the political-economic and institutional conditions that appear to have facilitated the AKP?s emergence, and places special emphasis on the EU as an external anchor and on the intended and unintended consequences of past secularist pressures. Political and theoretical implications of the case of Turkey are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Israel and Turkey have more in common than their recent military and economic cooperation and their secular and democratic credentials. In both states there was a crisis of national identity in the 1990s as the previously dominant conceptions of the national identity were challenged and unsettled. The crises of national identity in Israel and Turkey share some important features. They also have a potentially broader relevance since such crises are now becoming increasingly common. By examining these identity crises and comparing them, this paper attempts to offer a theoretically grounded and empirically informed understanding of national identity crises and their causes. A crisis of national identity occurs when the prevailing conception of the national identity is undermined and loses its ‘taken-for-granted’ nature making it subject to extensive contestation and debate. No objective criteria, however, can be specified for precisely when this point is reached. On the basis of a comparison of the crises of national identity in Israel and Turkey, this paper argues that a change in state-society relations is behind the identity crises in both countries. The gradual loss of the state’s monopoly in defining the national identity resulted in growing societal discord over the definition of the national identity, with the persistence and intensity of this discord being widely interpreted as indicative of a crisis of national identity. Thus, this paper contends that a crisis of national identity occurs when a national identity was imposed largely from above by the state, and when the states loses this ability?as it invariably does, especially as a result of globalization?opening the way for a variety of different social groups to advance different conceptions of the national identity and compete with each other to make their conception of the national identity hegemonic. When no societal consensus is reached over the proper definition of the national identity and there are multiple definitions of the national identity in competition, this situation is perceived by many as indicative of a crisis of national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey's decision on its role in the Iraq war in 2003 illustrates the power -- and limits -- of parliaments as actors in foreign policy. Traditionally, national assemblies are not seen as important players in the foreign policies of parliamentary democracies. Instead, the cabinet is generally considered the locus of policymaking authority. Parliaments are seen as forums for debate, and if the government enjoys a parliamentary majority, legislatures are expected to support the cabinet, if they are brought into the process at all. In Turkey, the president and the military have also been considered more important actors than parliament. But the March 1, 2003 vote by the Turkish parliament to not allow the United States to use Turkey as a base challenges this conventional wisdom on parliamentary influence (in addition to interest-based explanations of foreign policy). This paper examines this decision in the context of the role of legislatures in the foreign policies of parliamentary democracies and explores the relationships between parliamentary influence, leadership, intraparty politics, and public opinion. This paper uses this case to offer ideas on when and how parliaments are influential in foreign policy. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major turning points for Turkish politics is the opening of its accession negotiations for European Union membership in 2005. The EU has significant leverage on countries aspiring for membership due to its political conditionality and through the applicant country's adaptation of its rules and laws to those of the EU. Thus, the process of membership negotiations impacts the applicant country's political process in a significant fashion. This paper proposes that as Turkey moves towards meeting the EU's standards in democracy as part and parcel of its accession requirements, the underlying anti-democratic tendencies and tensions in Turkish politics come to the fore front with the unexpected result that the process of democratization carries the danger of threatening the basis of individual rights and liberties in Turkey. This is because the democratization process that gained momentum in 2002 has led to a high degree of polarization in Turkish politics with the Islamists and secularists located at the opposite ends. This paper analyzes the main cleavages in Turkish politics; the Islamists versus the secularists and nationalists versus the globalists with respect to the issues of gender equality, the Kurdish problem and the role of the military in politics. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to first, examine existing inequalities with respect to the access and use of information and communication technologies in Turkey, and second, evaluate how government policies addressed the issue. As has been widely discussed in both communication and political science literatures, the various dimensions of digital divide have serious political implications on the functioning of democracy, as well as the individuals' psychological, social, political and economic well-being. Thus, a comprehensive approach to diagnose the situation coupled with policy analysis is aimed to suggest future directions in dealing with the question. Within this framework, our paper will examine the case of Turkey which has a fast growing ICT sector and an equally speedy widening gap between those who are on the privileged and the disadvantaged sides of the digital divide. In the paper, we will particularly focus on the Information Society Project launched by the Turkish state in 2003 and examine to what extent global policy agendas influenced its overall framework and whether or not it has been able to develop concrete and achievable strategies targeting the particular needs present in the local context. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the contentious issues of Turkey's accession to the EU. While it is clear that all candidate countries have to fulfill the formal criteria of joining the EU there seem to exist also informal criteria that in the case of Turkey cause some hesitation as regards Turkey's accession to the EU. The paper takes under review arguments that are most often voiced in connection with strong reluctance to Turkish membership in the EU: the Muslim faith, not being a European country, geopolitical risks, size of the country, democracy and human rights and the issue of Cyprus. Each argument is analyzed separately and shows how it may be viewed from a different perspective and how drawbacks may also be seen as advantages. The paper argues that Turkish accession to the EU would be an asset to the EU and that the EU bears a responsibility towards the world at large and especially towards its neighborhood. EU's enlargement is in the end a political decision and Europe's political elites bear the primary responsibility for European unification and peace and development in the region. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the run-up to the European Union's "big-bang" enlargement of 2004, there was significant debate about the cultural unity of Europe. Popular and scholarly observers routinely suggested that a cultural chasm separated cosmopolitan and post-religious western Europeans from provincial and devout eastern Europeans. The east-west cultural divide portended a dark future for the EU. On this view, westerners and easterners in an enlarged EU would have a hard time understanding each other (literally and figuratively) and east Europeans would have a hard time availing themselves of the perquisites (e.g., free movement, increased educational opportunity) of membership.David Laitin (2002) framed an ambitious empirical analysis of culture and politics in the enlarging EU against the backdrop of this debate. His findings cut against the prevailing wisdom: both westerners and easterners, he found, participated in an emerging pan-European cosmopolitan culture. Rather than precluding mobility and political consensus after 2004, he suggested, culture might encourage east European mobility and promote compromise between incumbent member states and new member states.The purpose of the current paper is to utilize Laitin's conceptual framework to test more contemporary assertions of cultural difference in Europe. Today, assertions of Turkish otherness are even more common than assertions of eastern otherness were before 2004. This common view suggests that Turks are from Venus, while Europeans are from Mars. But might empirical comparison of Turkish and incumbent culture undercut this conventional wisdom, just as Laitin's analysis undercut the east-west conventional wisdom? And what are the political implications of cultural (non)overlaps between Turks and citizens of the EU-27? The paper analyzes updated data on language use, religion, and popular culture in EU member-states and Turkey to address these questions. It suggests that Laitin's pan-European cosmopolitan culture is deepening within the EU-27 but that most Turkish citizens remain outside of this culture. This time around, the conventional wisdom is generally supported rather than challenged. The paper's findings raise concerns about the prospects for cooperation in an EU that includes Turkey and questions the extent to which Turkish Eurocitizens would be able to take advantage of the opportunities opened by EU membership. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers international bond investor reaction to Turkey's possible EU accession. We demonstrate that investors react positively to even this far-distant and uncertain event, suggesting that investors could react much further in advance of political events and institutional change than suggested by existing analysis of the impact of politics on financial market actors. We show that one of the main changes brought about by the accession process is the emergence of new investors, able to invest only because of that accession process. This both highlights the importance of disaggregating financial markets, and suggests that market reaction to institutional change is likely to be especially important when that institutional change results not only in reactions by existing investors, but also changes in the types of investors active in a particular market. We make some brief comparisons between the EU accession process and IMF programmes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of supply and demand for religious goods and services as a means of molding domestic and foreign policy is a somewhat new suggestion. This paper endeavors to construct a micro and macro-economic framework by expanding upon the existing New Paradigm rational actor ideas for religious goods and services.The outcome of this study suggests that governments can take advantage of, and or limit the positive and negative externalities associated with changing levels of religious participation, by increasing or decreasing the levels of supply and or demand for religious goods and services, both domestically and abroad. The study suggests that the United States and its ally Turkey or any other modern state can, in the long term, permanently diffuse religious extremism and the associated negative externalities, by increasing the number of religious suppliers and consumers in countries that currently pose high levels of religious extremism. The policy responses can be overt and or covert, domestic and or international. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the 'mainstreaming' of constructivism in IR, the 'social turn' overlooks a crucial component of social life - the ordinary interactions that form the frequent and most common opportunity for dialogue among international actors. In this paper, I argue that ordinary interactions, like the creation of an Economic Partnership Commission to enhance and deepen US-Turkish partnership shortly after 9/11, are at the core of social processes. These interactions matter because they demonstrate how actors make their relations meaningful through a common language; one that relies on a re-engagement with the relevant past events familiar to participants. The 'trade talk' between the US and Turkey in 2002 relied on re-telling the past in order to make the economic negotiations meaningful. Events are not static 'things' in need of explanation or prediction, but rather elements of meaning-making and common knowledge. Ironically, then, events are extremely significant elements of the ordinary. By emphasizing how events are used as elements of story, I demonstrate the socially productive possibilities of the everyday. This requires close attention to narratives and I develop a methodology loosely based on David Campbell's work to examine how the articulated past events that appear in the narratives told to me in my personal interviews with US and Turkish elites in 2003 are formative of common knowledge and sense-making in international relations. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Islam has been on the rise as a source of political tension since the AKP came to power in 2002 and then reclaimed its victory in 2007 in Turkey. The secular establishment fear that the political changes under the AKP government will transform Turkey into 'a second Iran' or 'another Malaysia' within the next ten years. Based on the methodology of comparative historical analysis, this article aims to answer one of the key questions, which is relevant to the future development of secular democracy in the Muslim context: is the AKP government transforming Turkey from a secular (laic) back to a theocratic state that will embody the experimental model of 'moderate Islam' in the Middle East? This paper ontologically explores the rise of Islamism in Turkey by engaging with social and historical analysis of secularisation and democratisation and, thus, challenges three myths that do not systematically explain 'contextualised comparisons' in international relations. Nevertheless, at issue for the post-9/11 West is the complex of interrelationships between Islam, secularism, and liberal democracy: Can Turkey make the transition to being a 'Muslim democracy' - with all its significance for the future of the Middle East and the West in the 21st Century? ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU's common foreign and security role is tied to the EU's normative role and this has been one of the critical aspects of the debate concerning Turkey's accession. Turkey's membership negotiations are critical in terms of the future of the European integration process, specifically with respect to the EU's role as a global actor. How Turkey perceives the EU's CFSP is critical in assessing Turkey's potential role in the larger integration process, as well as the future development of the EU's international role. The article investigates whether there are wide differences among the Turkish public vis-a-vis the EU's CFSP and to what extent these differences are visible in Turkey's negotiation talks with the EU. The paper explores the extent to which European norms in foreign policy has diffused into Turkey and how this diffusion might have impacted the process of foreign policy making in Turkey. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labelling the 'other' is one of the most relevant aspects in an armed conflict context. By summarising what the opponent is in one single expression helps to convince the audience that it really represents an existential threat. The usage of the expression 'terrorist' is in that sense a very strong example. By labelling an individual or a group as a terrorist it places the 'other' outside the conflict framework. As terrorists, it becomes impossible to negotiate with them; they represent the Evil, the barbarians that kill innocent people in order to achieve their goals. In that sense the only reasonable solution is to eliminate them. This choice brings implications to the way the conflict is approached. It is no longer about fighting another group but about destroying it. By using the Copenhagen School securitization theory applied to conflicts, it is the goal of this paper to assess the process and implications of that discursive choice. Turkish discourse on the conflict against the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) will be used as a case study. It will be seen how the narrative of the conflict is constructed and how it limits its potential resolution. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the common perception in the Turkish society on the ineffectiveness of opposition, the scholarly work is very few on the opposition movements. This paper aims to contribute by discussing whether there is a real opposition movement at the state/system level in Turkey, by focusing mainly on political Islam. The main argument of the study is that although political Islam is currently the most distinguished oppositional voice, it is also articulated to the state tradition failing to move beyond the founding principles of the state tradition. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractTrans-state ethnic and religious identity groups enable the emergence of hybrid terrorist and criminal networks that pose grave security threats. Identity-based networks provide the basis for militant organizations that use violent strategies for political objectives. To gain funds and weapons, trans-state terrorist organizations may establish criminal enterprises or align with existing criminal networks. These hybrid networks command both economic and political resources that militants can use to broaden their support and suborn local officials. New data summarized here is based on survey by the Minorities at Risk project of the activities of 112 political organizations that represented ethnic or religious minorities in Middle Eastern countries. During 113 group-years between 1980 and 2004 these entities reportedly engaged in criminal activities such as smuggling, drug and arms trafficking, and money transfers and laundering.This paper uses detailed information on the PKK to illuminate the interactions between political and economic activities by transnational terrorist organizations. The PKK for 30 years has used terror strategies aimed at establishing an independent Kurdistan in SE Turkey. By the 1990s it was able to extract about US$ 50 million annually in "taxes" and contributions from the Kurdish diaspora in Europe and to earn an estimated US$ 44 million from smuggling drugs from the Middle East and dealing them in European cities. After the 2003 US invasion of Iraq the PKK expanded its base areas in northern Iraq, intensified attacks on Turkish targets, and thus has become a source of serious conflict between the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government and Turkey. We analyze in detail the network of constraints and opportunities that have shaped the PKK's political and economic strategies, and use our theoretical framework to suggest how the PKK is likely to respond to the changing power balance in the Arab peninsula, and to the tightening of EU anti-terrorism and anti-trafficking policies. We suggest inter alia that the PKK may undergo an agenda shift away from political terrorism and toward alliances with other international criminal networks. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkish and French efforts to restrain their U.S. ally in 2003 demonstrate the regularity of alliance restraint in international affairs and the importance of the more powerful state in the dispute mobilizing its power resources. The French effort failed to stop or substantially delay the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Turkey prevented U.S. forces from invading Iraq in the north but did not stop the overall U.S. war plan. The United States mobilized its resources to overcome French non-participation, entice Turkey with aid and political guarantees, and, when that failed, fight the Iraq war without a major ground invasion from the north. U.S. officials were unified and seeking to attain high nationals security objectives, both factors that make a restrainee hard to stop. These results are generally consistent with my previous work on alliance restraint, Warring Friends. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey's membership in the European Union (EU) is contingent on economic, political, and cultural factors. Rather than a geographic area with a particular cultural and religious history, the EU defi nes "Europe" as a political project that espouses values such as human rights, pluralist democracy, and a liberal economy. However, Turkey's EU accession process highlights the cultural and religious dimension through which "Islam" and "Europe" may be mutually redefined. Th is article examines how Turkish Muslim immigrants in Europe have become an example of the compatibility of "Islam" and "Europe." It is concluded that opposing Turkey's EU membership based on essentializing arguments of cultural and religious difference is misleading and counterproductive, as it fails to address the shift ing boundaries of Europe and of Islam. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of European energy security has brought attention to the strategic significance of Southeastern Europe as a transport hub of natural gas and a key region for European energy security. The questions how to secure natural gas quantities sufficient for increasing European needs and how to reduce energy dependency on Russia led to pipeline projects aiming to provide the European market with non-Russian natural gas. This allowed for the emergence of a new field of Greek-Turkish cooperation. The Turkey-Greece-Italy (TGI) Interconnector project aspires to bring Azerbaijani, Iranian, Turkmen, Kazakh, Egyptian and even Iraqi natural gas to Europe. It also also comprises an example of the paradigmatic shift that has characterized Greek-Turkish relations since the late 1990s. To meet increasing natural gas demand and reduce energy dependency on Russia, European authorities need to promote the realization of projects contributing to the diversification of natural gas supply, alongside improving its relationship with Russia, two targets which are not necessarily mutually exclusive. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the ways in which Turkey’s security discourses have been shaped by and have, in turn, shaped the transformation Turkey has gone through in recent years. Whereas the ‘Eurosceptics’ have underlined the need for a broad security agenda by making references to ‘globalised security’, while seeking to reshape practices in defence of ‘national security’, the ‘pro-EU’ actors have opened up Turkey’s definition of ‘national security’ for debate thereby sawing the seeds of an alternative security discourse. This is a significant departure from the earlier discourse of pro-EU actors who had refrained from using ‘security speak’ and sought to make the case for European Union membership on purely economic (welfare) and political (democracy) grounds. The point being that during the 1990s pro-EU actors in Turkey found the best way to bring about political change in Turkey as that of securitising economic issues and pointing to the economic costs of the existing conception of ‘national security’. The paper falls into three parts. Part 1 looks at the ‘traditional’ discourse on security (the discourse of politicians and civilian-military bureaucrats) that has prevailed during the republican era. Part 2 seeks to identify the 1990s changes in Turkey’s security discourses by focusing on the debates on the European Union membership. Part 3 suggests that a two-step strategy (first securitisation, then desecuritisation) might be the way out of the security dilemmas faced by developing countries like Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Security imaginary is a structure of cultural resources that actors tap when explaining the world to themselves and others, designing appropriate responses, and seeking discursive justification for the appropriateness of their responses. While the security imaginary of all states are culture-bound and therefore unique, post-coloniality brings in particular elements to a state's security imaginary, therefore rendering post-colonial states differently different. In analysing Turkey's security imaginary the paper offers the notion of 'imagined post-coloniality'. Perhaps because the Ottoman Empire was not colonised, insights gleaned from post-colonial studies are rarely applied to the study of Turkey. Yet they prove useful in understanding the trials and travails of Turkey's actors' search for locating themselves in the 'West' in late Ottoman and early Republican periods. The paper offers a reading of Turkey's actors' search for locating themselves in the 'West' as feigning 'similarity (an equal member the international society)â??a security move designed to minimise external interference and to make room for sovereign development. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of Turkey?s accession to the European Union reintroduces into the ever ongoing attempts to divide the world into culturally defined blocks the task of determining whether the Turkish nation is European enough topartake in the formation of a European identity. This paper compares and examines this possibility through two diametrically opposed theoretical frameworks, essentialism and constructivism, and attempts to bridge the gapbetween the two with reference to the particular case study.The main purpose of this paper is to examine the issues involved in reconciling the European with the Turkish identity and to determine, to the extent to which it is possible, whether it is indeed feasible for the Turkish people to constitute part of the European demos and for the emerging European identity to include the Turkish nation.The paper begins by briefly explaining how the idea of Europe has evolved throughout time, in such a manner as to render the formation of a European polity, a European ?demos? and, therefore, a European identity continuallymore likely and necessary. In accordance to theories of collective identity building a nation?s belonging to Europe, and thus its potential to embrace a European identity, is a combination of two main factors: its historical links with Europe and its will to be part of its present and future, or in the words of Anthony Smith, to hold a ?collective belief in the common destiny of [Europe] ?.Both a historical and a contemporary perspective should be taken into consideration, as is advocated respectively by the two main schools of thought on European identity building, essentialism and constitutionalism.Accordingly Turkey?s European orientation is examined under two angles. In a first section there is a critical overview of the extent to which the Turkish nation has been historically linked to Europe. This sectionexplores Turkish efforts to Europeanise from the catalytic Tanzimat reforms of the Ottoman Empire, to the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 by Kemal Ataturk and the attempt to reform and change the notion of the nation and identity in Turkey towards a more western prototype. On a second level the paper assesses the existence or non-existence of the belief among the Turkish people in a common destiny of Turkey and Europe. This part draws on contemporary press releases in Turkey, commentaries in Journals regarding European attitudes towards the expansion, work on Turkish nationalism, interviews, and finally attitude surveys and opinion polls carried out in Turkey. The extent to which they identify with Europe as a cultural unit, and not only as a set of civic institutions, is the main point addressed in order to assess the whether and how far essentialism or constructivismapplies.The findings of this case study (2003) pointed towards the constructivist paradigm being more likely to apply. The notion of ?common heritage? between Turkey and Europe is used more often by the Turkish media within the context of the attack on the EU for rendering the process of Turkish accession painful and time-consuming, than it is experienced in Turkish national feeling. Though there may be a willingness to form a common political and economic destiny, there is little belief in the potential for the integration of cultures and the formation of an inclusive culturalidentity, in spite of the admittedly intense historical interaction between the two parties (as the new approaches in historiography are pointing out)... ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why does Turkey want to be a member of the European Union? The existing literature, in an attempt to answer this question, has pointed to interests and identity as driving Turkey?s membership quest. This paper suggests an alternative explanation by showing how the quest for EU membership is a result of the development trajectory that it has been following for almost two centuries. Using historical institutionalist approach and its analytical tools, like path dependency, the authors will show that the accumulative effects of policy choices of almost two century and especially of policy choices after the Turkish Republic was found have created momentum that has led Turkey to seek EU membership. The Turkish path of development, especially after the founding of the Turkish Republic, has been very strongly colored by a desire to be a European nation. The logic of 'westernization' informing the Turkish path of development has profoundly shaped its domestic and foreign political choices. This paper will historically trace how the policy choices of the past have made EU membership much more likely option than other possible forms of international alignment. Although this paper does not deny the role of interests and identity, it draws attention to the historical institutional dynamics wielding causal weight on current choices and even shaping contemporary interest and identities. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 11 September 2001 political Islam has become the topic of much academic debate as to what its implications are for the world, Muslim societies and the Middle East in particular. What is lacking in much of the analysis of political Islam is its historical location in the states it has become prevalent in and the distinction between different political Islams. This paper will historically locate the Islamist movement in Turkey and examine the impact of political Islam on Turkish foreign policy under the Premiership of Necmettin Erbakan from 1996-1997 as leader of the Islamist Refah (Welfare) Party. This paper conceptualises political Islam as a modern socio-political movement and examines the dialectical relationship between domestic ideologies in Turkey and the implications this has for TurkeyÂ’s foreign policy. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The externally oriented and military-focused conception of ‘national security’ does not fare well when accounting for the insecurities Turkey has shared with other developing countries. Yet, throughout the Cold War era, there was limited discussion in Turkey’s International Relations literature on the (ir)relevance of such ‘standard’ concepts and theories of International Relations when accounting for Turkey’s insecurities. This could partly be explained with studies on foreign policy analysis and area studies overshadowing theory-informed research (as with other settings in the developing world). During this period, concepts and theories were imported without reflecting upon their relevance for the Turkish context. Another part of the explanation is rooted in the historical context and Turkey’s foreign policy orientation. Throughout the Cold War era Turkey’s security was analysed as an aspect of ‘Western security’. Representations of Turkey as a ‘junior partner’ of the United States in the fight against communism not only helped to (re)produce its ‘Western’ identity but also underlay the production of International Relations literature in Turkey. The paper falls into three parts. Part I discusses the issue of misfit between International Relations concepts and theories and ‘realities’ of the developing world and emphasises the significance of historical context for understanding why and how theories and concepts travel between worlds. Part II looks at how the issue of the (ir)relevance of ‘standard’ concepts and theories was treated in Turkey’s International Relations literature during the Cold War. Part III looks at the 1990s debates on Turkey’s conception of ‘national security’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comprises quantitative and qualitative content analysis that explains the states' use of religion in Turkey and the US. We examine Recep Tayyip Erdogan's speeches delivered in the Grand National Assembly and George W. Bush's weekly radio adresses for the first four months of 2003. The aim of this inquiry is to answer the question of "how these leaders invoke the civil religion traditions of their countries?" To that purpose, a computer assisted text analysis is conducted, which identifies the most frequent relevant terms in each document that refers religion, founding principles of each country, the Iraq war and the other (US, Turkey, and Iraq). In George W. Bush's speeches, we expect to see the double function of religion in the justification of going to war with Iraq. On the other hand, we expect Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to use civil religion in the same way that Bush uses it, but rather to invoke a civil religion that utilizes secularism to politically motivate Turkish citizens. Scholars of civil religion do not discuss the construction of civil religion in Turkey. Also, there is not a study that analytically analyzes changes in civil religion traditions. Therefore, the motivation of this investigation is to fill this gap and to provide useful insights into the study of civil religion by examining the speeches of leaders. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine how the government party in Turkey, AKP, and the conflicts it had with the secular block over legitimization of religion in the political sphere have been covered by the news media.The issues that led to such conflicts pr ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perhaps no country since the end of the Cold War has seen its position and role as quickly transformed as Turkey has in the last two decades. While Turkey?s geography has not changed during this time, the importance with which the international community has viewed this area of the world has undoubtedly been shaped by the events that have followed since the fall of the Soviet Union. Most recently, the events of 9/11 have dramatically affected Turkey both internally and externally in the regions that matter the most to Turkish foreign policymakers. The changes that have occurred both within Turkey and in its immediate neighborhood require thoughtful reconsideration for both how Ankara?s new geopolitical environment now influences its opportunities and challenges, and how various world actors now view Turkey. Turkey?s future path and progress is particularly instructive for the regions that it finds itself a part of, because Turkey?s own struggles with democracy, secularism, Islamism, and ethnic minorities represent a microcosm of the challenges facing the entire region. This presentation is an attempt to account for the transformation that Turkey has undergone since September 11, 2001, and an articulation of Turkey?s need for a new strategy for dealing with the dynamic neighborhoods in which it co-exists. Stated simply, this paper deals with Turkey?s new place in the international state system or ?global order.? Turkey no longer solely represents simply a geographic barrier against communism, but rather is transforming itself to meet the various threats emerging from its new geopolitical environment. In this context, Turkey?s global role has shifted from a Western geo-strategic military deterrent to an exemplary model of a Muslim-majority, secular, and democratic nation. By broadening its horizons and seeing the positive role that it has to play in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, Turkey will realize its full potential as a versatile multiregional and increasingly powerful international actor in the New World Order. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with EU-Turkish relations. Following the commencement of accession negotiations in October 2005, Turkey is politically at the threshold of the EU. It is argued that the case of Turkey will be different and more challenging from previous accessions for several reasons. A major question is whether the internal sociopolitical dynamics and external orientations of Turkey can be compatible with the changing dynamics of the European integration process. It concludes that during the protracted period of accession negations Europe and Turkey will find out whether they can share a common future that will reconcile their different pasts. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of international migration escalated in recent years in line with globalization and has reached a point where individual efforts of states to tackle migration problems have proven to be insufficient. Particularly after 9/11 concerns about the growing migration flows increased considerably as the attacks demonstrated the link between migration and international terrorism. Since the mid 1990?s the European Union is engaged in creating cooperation in the field of immigration at the European level. A comprehensive ?European immigration policy? does not exist to date, due to the highly sensitive nature of immigration issues. While the EU is seeking to construct a model that would suit the expectations of all Member States, Turkey ? as a country where EU membership prospects shape law and policy - is also busy with creating its national legislation on immigration. Turkey is probably one of the most interesting countries to study when it comes to immigration. Situated on the South-East end of Europe in the middle of the world?s most unstable three regions (namely the Balkans, Caucasus and Middle East), Turkish immigration policies deserve special attention as once Turkey becomes an EU Member, it shall form the external border of the EU to countries such as Iraq, Iran and Syria which are considered to be the hubs of international terrorism. Thus a well-functioning, balanced Turkish immigration policy will contribute immensely to the security of Europe as well as the United States. Although Turkey is increasingly becoming a destination country in terms of international migration, its laws and practices are far from being sufficient to manage such an experience. This paper aims at illustrating the shortcomings of Turkish immigration laws and practices with special emphasis on the reasons of these shortcomings and comes up with a concrete set of proposals to get the Turkish immigration policies able to face current challenges. In doing this, the specific concerns of Turkey are taken into consideration and the emerging European Immigration Policy is taken as a point of reference, as Turkey will ultimately have to comply with all steps taken by the EU in this field as part of its harmonization process. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses how discursive contexts shape expectations of actors. In particular, I examine how a developing state such as Turkey, acts in conflicting discursive environment that exhibits 'mixed signals' regarding economic interaction with the US. How are economic policies made meaningful in these environments and how do these 'mixed signals' constitute expectations that when unmet transform partnership-building opportunities into disappointment and distrust? The question is how is it possible to act in a particular discursive environment that insists that globalization is both a given fact for which countries must adapt and adjust, and something to be molded and shaped to benefit impoverished states in particular? What actions might be expected to be successful and how might these expectations reveal themselves and play out in trade talk between international actors? Moreover, how are identities strategically shifted in reaction to particular historical events? I attempt to unpack the discursive context made meaningful through a dominant discourse of globalization that I argue is a single logic of 'contingent inevitability' that overlaps with a post 9/11 shift in regards to 'Muslim Allies' and US foreign economic policy. Turkey, acting in the context of a post-9/11 context, represents the coalescence of expectations, identities and neoliberal discourse that constitutes possible action by developing countries attempting to 'adapt' and simultaneously 'shape' globalization so that it benefits poor as well as rich states. The 'missed signals' and 'missed expectations' for economic policy outcomes in this 'new context' reveal interpretations of seemingly insignificant economic policies that deeply impact the relationship between the US and Turkey and demonstrate how meanings are made and understood in and through the language of actors. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A widespread consensus among scholars on the Turkey-EU accession talks in recent years is their overall positive impact on the Turkish democracy. Can the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) have a similar effect on those neighboring Muslim countries it targets? This paper seeks to answer the question by overviewing some of the main democratization efforts in Turkey since 1990s. The following section then compares the Turkish experience with those Muslim countries (those with a Muslim-majority population) that are ENP partners by stressing the differences. The final section concludes by discussing the prospects of democratization in the latter based on these findings, and the potential roles that the ENP can play to further promote the ongoing process. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relations between Turkey and the EU entered a new phrase on October 3, 2005 when the EU opened accession negotiations with Turkey. TurkeyÂ’s accession will be dramatically different than the previous waves of enlargement due to TurkeyÂ’s size, perceived cultural differences and the European publicÂ’s resistance to TurkeyÂ’s accession. How the European public perceives TurkeyÂ’s membership and its impact on Europe will determine whether Turkey will accede to the EU. This paper proposes that the legitimacy crisis that the EU and European governments currently face will deepen over the issue of TurkeyÂ’s membership, and that the European publicÂ’s resistance to Turkey and the EUÂ’s legitimacy crisis will carry a greater weight in determining TurkeyÂ’s accession than TurkeyÂ’s ability in meeting the EUÂ’s acquis. In this manner, TurkeyÂ’s membership does not only deserve scholarly attention for its value in terms of enlarging the EU, but also in terms of developing a new approach to policy making in the EU. This is theoretically significant in explaining European integration. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the decline of the Ottoman Empire Europe has become a major source of inspiration for Turkey's reform-minded elites. In this regard two waves of reforms are of particular importance. First, the establishment of the Turkish Republic and the initial efforts of the Kemalists to create the preconditions for a well functioning democratic nation state through a remarkable list of secularizing reforms. Accordingly, the Kemalists described their authoritarian single party regime as a civilizing force - a view that has become widely accepted. The second wave occurred recently when nine harmonization laws were passed in order to satisfy the Copenhagen criteria for membership in the EU. Ironically, this step was carried out by the ruling Justice and Development Party, which is accused of hiding its reactionary agenda behind liberal reform packages. While the West, especially the US administration, hopes for the emergence of a loyal Muslim democracy, which could serve as a model for a free and democratic Middle East, the Kemalist elites, who had carried out the first wave of Turkish Europeanization reforms, fear the de-stabilization of the regime and the undoing of secular achievements. This conflict shows on the one hand that democracy is far from being a logical outcome of political engineering. On the other hand, it demonstrates that the consolidation of the Turkish democracy is not a matter of gradual reform. It is a matter of transforming the political system. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among few examples for those who argue that Islam and democracy can go together is the Turkish experience under the Justice and Development Party (JDP) government since November 2002. Yet, the Party itself disassociates the movement with a religious political background, and rather defines its political stand as a ?conservative democrat.? Notwithstanding repeated commitments to secularism and democracy, it is being defined as pro-Islamist, Islamic-oriented, moderate-Muslim party in the media outside of Turkey. This study aims to discuss the ambiguity in the media coverage of this rather recent political movement in Turkey, and find out if such discrepancies between the party's own description and its perception in the media occur with respect to certain issues, or if this occurs regardless of the subject matter. Using the LexisNexis database, a dataset is being created for the media's coverage (from the fall of 2002 through June 2006), to code for the labels used to describe JDP every time a news about the JDP appeared in the newswires. To find out if certain labels are more likely to be used in a given subject area, I will code the news for different issue areas (such as, domestic politics, the European Union accession, economic policy and crises, religion and social life, relations with the US). Findings will be compared with the Party?s official documentation (i.e. its political manifesto and government program). How similar are these with the party's own definitions of its political agenda? To what extent, or relating to what issues, is the party still perceived as a continuation of past political movement? When is it represented as a ?moderate? Islamic political movement? The conclusions will provide results regarding the wide array of descriptions of the media coverage on political Islam, and include policy implications for similar movements to address their ?image problem.? ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]