Derin Sular

[Panel presentation on February 19th, 2010 at the annual conference of International Studies Association (ISA) in New Orleans.]

Thanks for coming.

My paper examines the Turkish educational system, and specifically the National Security Knowledge course, and analyzes the extent to which it is in line with interwar-period nationalism, which is a militarist form of nationalism that was prevalent in Europe between the two world wars.

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[Panel presentation on April 3rd, 2009 at the annual conference of Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) in Chicago.]
Thanks for coming.
My paper is about how the visibility and revival of Islamic sociocultural elements have caused a widespread fear and reaction in the laicist segment of the Turkish society. This is not a new phenomenon. It started decades ago. But the issue has become more salient recently – due to both the increasing success of the conservative parties, and Turkey’s accession process to the E.U.

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It is a strong tradition in Turkey’s Kemalist circles to regard all policy choices that contradict with the country’s official ideology as a betrayal to the Republic’s founding principles. This struggle between status quo and change has always been current in the Turkish political agenda – since the Turkish people have an undying habit of bringing non-Kemalist political parties to power, and since the Kemalists who predominate the state institutions anxiously believe that their opponents, covertly or overtly, always try to do away with Kemalism, which they consider an indispensible component of the Turkish Republic.

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[Originally published at Turkish Daily News.]

After the coup of 1980, Turkey was governed by a military administration for three years, during which the junta restructured the country’s political system. The most important outcome of this process was probably the Constitution of 1982, the most militaristic fundamental document of law in the history of the Turkish Republic. The new constitution was enacted by a popular plebiscite, which the junta conducted with quasi-transparent envelopes.

The next and final phase of the process was the restoration of ‘democracy,’ which, according to the junta, was a synonym of ‘elections.’

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[Originally published at Turkish Daily News.]

The Turkish Parliament adopted eight legislative packages between February 2002 and July 2004, introducing somewhat revolutionary changes to the country’s political system. As the European Commission’s 2004 progress report on Turkey stated, these changes ranged from “improved civil liberties and human rights to enhanced civilian control of the military.” The changes were so wide in scope that the European Commission, in response, recommended the EU to start accession negotiations with Turkey.

Preceded by a number of other positive developments, this long-awaited decision of the European Commission was warmly welcomed in Turkey. The majority of the Turkish people came to believe that things were finally getting on track in the country. The subsequent events, however, proved otherwise.

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