"Turkish Political Parties and the European Union
I haven't checked the study itself yet but it sure needs some attention in my part. and i should thank the people in the Düşünce Kahvesi for linking me and so i could be aware of this study...
Turkish Political Parties and the European Union: How Turkish MPs Frame the Issue of Adapting to EU
Conditionality
Joakim Parslow, Oslo, June 2007
ARENA Report No 7/07
Abstract
Turkey’s relations with the European Union (EU) are at a critical juncture. As of 2002, the process of adapting Turkey’s legal framework to the EU’s political membership criteria began in earnest. The legislative amendments carried out in this respect amount to one of the largest, most wide-ranging reform processes Turkey has ever experienced. At the level of legislation, it involves updating Turkey’s laws to ensure that the prerequisites of a stable, pluralist democracy are in place, and that human rights are respected. In order for these amendments to be passed, however, the reforms must also be continuously justified vis-à-vis key constituencies. In this respect, the reforms are not only interesting from the perspective of EU-Turkey relations. They come at a crucial time in Turkey’s domestic politics, and pose a challenge to some of the most fundamental divisions in the country’s political party system. For the secularist state elite, supporting the reforms entails loosening their grip on the state, and allowing the public expression of Muslim and Kurdish identities. For the Islamic party elites, it involves modifying their anti-Western rhetoric, and reconciling their interests with the universalist norms expressed in the EU’s membership criteria. Thus, successfully following through with the legal prerequisites of EU membership requires not only legal engineering, but also a radical shift in Turkey’s political culture......
Check out the contents:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4: Center-Periphery and Universalism: Themes in Turkish Party Politics
The Republican People’s Party
The Democratic Left Party
The Nationalist Action Party
The Motherland Party
The True Path Party
The Felicity Party
The Justice and Development Party
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
