The 2007 parliamentary elections in Turkey: Between securitisation and desecuritisation

Parliamentary Affairs

Volumn 62, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 129-148

  Polat, Rabia Karakaya ^a  

^a ISIK UNIVERSITY   (Turkey)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 58149129531     PISSN: 00312290     EISSN: 14602482     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/pa/gsn039     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. I would like to thank Bulent Aras and anonymous referees for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article, I would also like to thank Steuart Hutchinson Blue for helping me in proofreading the article.
2. Hasan Cemal, 'Hayir' [No], Milliyet (a Turkish daily), 29 April 2007.
3. Omer Taspinar, 'Secimlerin Galibi Toplum ve Demokrasi Oldu' [The Victors of these Elections are the Society and Democracy], Radikal (a Turkish daily), 30 July 2007.
4. There was only one exception. A research company called Konda predicted such high levels of support and was heavily criticised for misleading the public by exaggerating the AKP's support.
5. Yuksel Taskin, 'AKP's Move to "Conquer" the Center-Right: Its Prospects and Possible Impacts on the Democratization Process', Turkish Studies, 9, 2008, 53-72.
6. Canan Balkir, 'The July 2007 Elections in Turkey: a Test for Democracy', Mediterranean Politics, 12, 2007, 415-22.
7. Bulent Aras and Rabia Karakaya Polar, 'From Conflict to Cooperation: Desecuritization of Turkey's Relations with Syria and Iran', Security Dialogue, 39, 2008, 475-495.
8. Cited in Pinar Bilgin 'Turkey's Changing Security Discourses: The Challenge of Globalisation', European Journal of Political Research, 4, 2005, 188.
9. Ole Weaver, 'Securitization and Desecuritization' in Ronnie Lipschutz (ed.) On Security, Columbia University Press, 1995, pp. 46-86.
10. According to the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, minority status was conferred only on non-Muslim minorities. Muslim groups such as the Kurds are not recognised, legally, as constituting a minority. In this article I use the word minority rather to refer to Kurds as an ethnic-linguistic group within Turkey.
11. Hakan Yilmaz (2004) defines this as Tanzimat Syndrome, The Tanzimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire brought new citizenship rights and some priviliges to the non-Muslim subjects of the Empire in the hope of preventing the dissolution of the Empire in the face of nationalist movements and was an effort at stopping the European powers from interfering in its internal affairs. The next few decades witnessed a spread in nationalist independence movements, which resulted in huge loss of territory. Yilmaz (2004) argues that the historical record taught the Ottomans and the subsequent Turkish elite two lessons: giving rights and freedoms to people would not make them more loyal and that the real intention of the European powers in demanding more respect for human rights is actually to weaken and divide the country.
12. The Menemen Incident took place in November 1930 as a violent religious reactionary rebellion against the secularist Republican regime. The incident made it clear to the Republican elites that the reforms that had been undertaken to that point had not taken root. In February 1997, the Welfare Party Mayor of Sincan hosted a rally called 'Jerusalem Night' during which the Iranian ambassador criticised Turkey's secularism. The army intervened immediately by diverting a column of tanks to Sincan and arresting the mayor. The incident triggered the 28 February 'postmodern' coup.
13. Ronnie Lipschutz, 'On Security' in Ronnie Lipschutz (ed.). On Security, Columbia University Press, 1995, p. 8.
14. Serif Mardin, 'Center-Periphery Relations; a Key To Turkish Politics?' Daedalus: Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 102, 1973, 169-91.
15. Metin Heper, 'The Strong State as a Problem for the Consolidation of Democracy: Turkey and Germany Compared', Comparative Political Studies, 25, 1992, 169-94.
16. See op. cit. 13.
17. Michael C. Williams, 'Words, images, Enemies: Securitization and International Politics', International Studies Quarterly, 47, 2003, 514.
18. A public opinion poll asked 1,220 individuals in 20 different cities across Turkey about their trust in different institutions over the period between 1999 to 2004. The Army exceded all other groups as the most trusted institution in the poll. This finding is repeated consistently in other surveys. See Turkiye'de Yerel ve Merkezi Yonetimlerde Hizmetlerden Tatmin, Patronaj Hiskileri ve Reform Raporu [Report on Satisfaction from Public Services of Local and Central Government, Patronage Relations and Reform], TESEV, 2004.
19. Pinar Bilgin, 'Making Turkey's Transformation Possible: Claiming Security-speak-not Desecuritization', Southeast European & Black Sea Studies, 7, 2007, 555-71;
20. TESEV, 'Türkiye'de Yerel ve Merkezi Yonetimlerde Hizmetlerden Tatmin, Patronaj I'lişkileri ve Reform Raporu', [A Report on the Satisfaction with Local and Central Government Public Services. (Patronage Relations and Reform)], 2004, Istanbul.
21. See op. cit, n17, p. 523.
22. See op. cit, n18.
23. It is very common for the Turkish media to invite retired generals to comment on Domestic and Foreign Policy issues. The generals often use this as an opportunity to securitise various issues. The most recent example has been their attitude towards Kurdish terror and the situation in northern Iraq. In October 2007, PM Erdogan accused the retired generals of provoking the public. See http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2007/10/30/son/sonsiy21.asp.
24. Ole Weaver, 'The EU as a Security Actor; Reflections from a Pessimistic Constructivist on Post-sovereign Security Orders' in Michael Kelstrup and Michael Williams (eds), International Relations Theory and European Integration: Power, Security and Community, Routledge, 2000, pp. 250-94.
25. Radikal (a Turkish daily), 2005. Devlet Gecmiste Hatalar Yapti [The State has Made Mistakes in the Past), 13 August.
26. Bulent Aras and Rahia Karakaya Polar, 'Turkey and the Middle East; Frontiers of the New Geographic Imagination', Australian Journal of International Affairs, 6, 2007, 471-88.
27. Nathalie Tocci, 'Europeanization in Turkey: Trigger or Anchor for Reform?' South European Society & Politics, 10, 2005, 73-83.
28. See op, cit, n25.
29. Banu Gokariksel and Katharyne Mitchell, 'Veiling, Secularism and the Neoliberal Subject; National Narratives and Supranational Desires in Turkey and France', Global Networks, 5, 2005, 147-65.
30. This would not have been a surprise since the 8th and 9th presidents of Turkey had also been prime ministers before their election into presidency.
31. He also claimed that as parr of the Greater Middle East Project, Turkey is presented as a mildly Islamic state that would he a model to other Muslim countries. He argued that this process is being carried out by external and internal forces under the guise of democratisation. He also took issue with criticisms against the military and asked the privatisation process to stop. This speech was almost a textbook example of security as speech-act.
32. Cankaya is the presidential palace.
33. See op. cit, n9, p. 63.
34. The website of the Turkish Armed Forces became a tool for securitising issues and creating public opinion in line with the army. For a discussion on how the use of this technology trivialised military interventions see, Rabia Karakaya Polat, 'Is Turkish Big Brother Watching Us?', Turkish Daily News, 3 June 2008. http;//www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=l 06208.
35. On 1 March 2003 the Turkish Parliament rejected a proposal to let the US ground troops enter Iraq through Turkey. The event strained the relations between the two countries.
36. The two best-selling hooks in Turkey in this time period reflect the nationalist and anti-west mood of the public. Metal Firtina (The Metal Storm) hit the best-seller list in 2005 with a story about a war between Turkey and the USA, Although the hook is sold as a fiction, many agreed that it blurs the line between fantasy and reality. Su Cilgin Turkler (These Crazy Turks) tells the story of the Turkish War of Independence and has almost reached its 200th edition. The film, The Valley of the Wolves, which became a blockbuster hit in 2006, is another example. The film was inspired by a real-life incident: the arrest in July 2003 of Turkish Special Forces by the US troops in Sulaymaniyah, Northern Iraq, The soldiers were pictured with hoods over their heads, America later apologised, but Turkey took the incident as national humiliation. In this film, the fictional hero looks for revenge against Americans.
37. Examples Orhan Parnuk and Elif Safak on the so-called Armenian Genocide and the Kurdish issue.
38. Ogun Samast said he murdered Hrant Dink because he insulted Turkishness. A suspect related to this murder was later understood to be a double-agent working for the police. The murderer of the High Court judge, Alparslan Asian, was a3so revealed to have links with nationalist associations and retired generals.
39. One deputy of MHP lost his life right after the election, reducing the number of MHP seats to 70. 39 The Turkish electoral system is based on proportional representation with a national threshold of 10%, which was introduced after the 1980 coup, ironically, to prevent the extremist parties-read Islamist and Kurdish-from being represented in the parliament, The national threshold led to an unfair representation following the 2002 elections when only two parties could pass the threshold. With 34% of vote share, the AKP controlled 66% of seats because the votes of the parties who stayed under the threshold benefited the AKP most. In 2007., however, because three parties and a higher number of independents obtained representation, the AKP did not have this benefit. The 2007 election produced a fairer seat distribution compared with the 2002 election.
40. See www.tsk.mil.tr.
41. Bulent Aras, 'Turkey's War on Terror', SETA Policy Brief, No. 2, November 2007, SETA.
42. South-eastern Anatolian Project is an integrated regional development project including irrigation, hydraulic energy production, agriculture, urban and rural infrastructure, forestry, education and health. The project aims to eliminate regional development disparities by raising income levels and living standards in this region. For more information about the government's recent move on this project, see, Taha Ozhan, 'New Action Plan for Southeastern Turkey', SETA Policy Brief, No, 17, July 2008, SETA.
43. Necati Polat, 'Identity Politics and the Domestic Context of Turkey's European Union Accession', Government & Opposition, 41, 2006, 512-33.
44. See op. cit., n9, p. 63.