Turkish Politics Midterm

TIMELINE + Readings + ID's

1922

Sultanate Abolished

1923

Republic of Turkey Established

1924

Caliphate Abolished

1925

Sheikh Said Rebellion

1937-1938

Dersim

1950

First Free Elections in Turkey - DP wins

1960

First Military Coup, made military self appointed guardian of the state

1961

New Constitution: Constitutional Court and NSC

1971

Military Coup forced out elected government, 3 leftist youth killed

1978

PKK Founded

1980

Military Coup: Crushed the left and labor unions, Diyarbakir prison

1982

New Constitution, deepening military power

1984

PKK insurgency

1994

Welfare party wins in Istanbul

1996

Susurluk Scandal

1997

Feb 28th Military Coup

1999

Earthquake

2001

Financial Collapse

2002

AKP wins on 34%

2007

AKP wins on 47%

2010

Sledgehammer Trial

2013

AKP and Gülen Rupture

2014

Erdoğan becomes first directly elected president

Temelkuran

“Yesterday is yesterday, today is today”, photobook and overview

Papuccular

Ataturk and Kemalism, top down, security oriented project that built a secular western nation-state. Chooses the survival of the republic over democracy. nation building

Rustow

Democracy as a dynamic model: democracy is born from a long struggle settled by a conscious elite choice. Turkey’s political struggle was never fully concluded, democracy as a “gift from an autocrat”

Heper and Keyman

Patronage leads to crisis, then military intervention, then patronage again. Cyclical

Sakallioglu

Autonomy of Turkish Military

Yegen

The Kurdish Question: through defining reactionary, muslim, or tribal politics as internal security threats, the state targeted key elements of Kurdish identity, autonomy and social life, excluding Kurds from turkey’s political project of a central, secular nation-state

Tezcur

Why do people join the PKK? Not only grievances, but material and security motives, state repression, social networks, political mobilization

Serbes

The Terrorist Upstairs

Gulap

Turkey’s Welfare Party: welfare was a populist cross-class coalition that absorbed different class interests under an islamic identity opposed to Kemalism. Most welfare voters were motivated by political demands, not religious.

Cizre & Cinar

Feb 28th 2002: Removed islamists from politics, deepened military guardianship but left civilian politics stagnant.

Ozel

The AKPs victory reflects long-term change that could push Turkey toward liberal democracy. The AKPs victory found in the aftermath of 4 recent shocks 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001

Keyman

The AKP experience and it’s limits, equating democracy with majority rule, the AKP fed conservatism and polarization rather than preserving democracy. 4 overall transformations Modernization (1923), Democratization (1950), Globalization (1980), Europeanization (2000)

Zurcher

The AKP and EU reformations. The AKP utilizing the EU against the Kemalist state, then to defeat the military, then for economic reformation, despite deep social division

Rodrik

Sledgehammer case, forged evidence, politicized prosecution, under the face of EU standard

Dinscahin

AKP Populism: The people vs the elite, power belongs to the people

Ataturk

Founded the Republic in 1923, Top-down, secular, nationalist reforms became Kemalism

Inonu

Ataturk’s right-hand man, allowed multi-party politics

Erdogan

Welfare mayor of Istanbul, Co-founder of AKP, current president

Gul

AKP co-founder, had a wife with a headscarf

CHP

Republican People’s party, Ataturk’s party

DP

Democratic Party, first party to defeat the CHP

AKP

Justice and Development Party, Islam based, Erdogan’s Party

PKK

Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Terrorist group, Ocolan’s party