Turkish accession to the European Union is an important but controversial item on the agenda of the European Union. By focusing on the various domestic sources that drive Turkish politics, this comprehensive study of both classic and new topics supported by fresh, new insights fills a void in the current literature on Turkey-EU relations. This volume is a comprehensive, state of the art study of domestic politics and policies and their role in Turkey's EU accession. Contributions are obtained from established scholars, acknowledged for their expertise in their respective fields. The content is structured along issues, dynamics, actors and policies that drive Turkish politics and it provides an integrated assessment of the dynamics in Turkey-EU relations to general readers, students and specialists in EU Enlargement and Turkish politics alike. Original contributions to 'classic' topics such as the customs union, human rights, military, civil society, public and elite opinion, political parties and the Kurdish issue are made by assessing the domestic sources of recent developments during the negotiations period. In addition, 'new' topics are included that previously have not been covered or analyzed in volumes on Turkish-EU relations such as the Alevi issue, European Turks, corruption in Turkey, and Turkish parliamentary elite opinion on Turkey and the EU. This book was published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

Over the last decade the once marginal extreme right-end of the Turkish ideological spectrum has grown both in size as well as in influence and has effectively reshaped party competition in Turkey. Policy mandates and electoral bases of the rising extreme-right rely on potentially explosive social cleavages in the country. One such confrontation is between the secularist and pro-Islamist forces, which has always been one of the centerpieces of modern Turkish politics. The rise of pro-Islamist electoral forces from a marginal to an undeniably imposing position in Turkish electoral politics has led many to worry that a deep-rooted schism has come to the forefront of Turkish politics. The frontline of this secularist vs. pro-Islamist confrontation is quite widespread ranging from a debate around the ban of turban and headscarves in universities to religious education in the country, from Islamic principles in the economy to Turkish foreign policy towards the Middle Eastern countries.
Essays in this collection aim first to provide a historical background to the current debates on the role of religion in politics focusing on the Ottoman heritage. Another group of essays focus on the relatively recent experience of Turkish politics with the interactions between Islam and politics and highlights contrasts and similarities in a comparative perspective with other country experiences.
This volume was previously published as a special issue of the journal "Turkish Studies,"

The volume sheds light on the backsliding process of Turkish democratization from the early 2010's until 2018. In addition to historical contextualization, the book analyzes data collected through a nationally representative survey of Turkish voters during the 2018 elections and data available by the Supreme Election Board (YSK) in a pre-and post-election panel design. A more centralized administration of elections that are directly under the control of the central government brought reliability of election results as well as the free and fair nature of the elections in question. Mobilization efforts of the parties, as well as the varying degree of influence of the economy, appear to have simultaneously influential over the vote choices. Yet another factor of potency in shaping the vote choices was the longer-term effects of ideology, conservative values, and hence the party identification. Through the 2018 elections in Turkey, the book provides an excellent glimpse into the dynamics of Turkish politics, society and culture. Targeting students and scholars of Middle Eastern and North African politics, the book is a key resource for any readers interested in the political developments of Turkey, comparative politics, and voting behavior.

Over the last decade the once marginal extreme right of the Turkish ideological spectrum has grown in size as well as in influence and has effectively reshaped party competition in Turkey. Policy mandates and electoral bases of the rising extreme right rely on potentially explosive social cleavages in the country. One such confrontation is between the secularist and pro-Islamist forces, which has always been one of the centrepieces of modern Turkish politics.

The rise of pro-Islamist electoral forces from a marginal to an undeniably imposing position in Turkish electoral politics has led many to worry that a deep-rooted schism has come to the forefront of Turkish politics. The frontline of this secularist vs pro-Islamist confrontation is quite widespread ranging from a debate around the ban of turban and headscarves in universities to religious education in the country, from Islamic principles in the economy to Turkish foreign policy towards the Middle Eastern countries.

This volume was previously published as a special issue of the journal Turkish Studies.

Greek-Turkish conflict-ridden relations have long occupied a problematic position in the Western alliance, first in NATO then, more dramatically, within the context of the newly developing European Union and its defence initiatives. Following three major earthquakes on both sides of the Aegean, the two countries have now experienced, firstly, a public empathy towards each other, and secondly, a significant diplomatic rapprochement. This rapprochement though has failed to resolve the Cyprus conflict, and is now at risk of reverting back to a series of conflicts. This book addresses the crucial issues between Greece and Turkey, from a critical perspective, and provides an up-to-date assessment of the current state of the Greek-Turkish rapprochement and its future development. Mensur Akgun, Yeditepe University Ahmet Sozen, Bahcehir University Gulay Gunluk, Istanbul University Thanos Dokos, ELIAMEP Ali Carkoglu, Sabanci Universi

Greek-Turkish conflict-ridden relations have long occupied a problematic position in the Western alliance, first in NATO then, more dramatically, within the context of the newly developing European Union and its defence initiatives. Following three major earthquakes on both sides of the Aegean, the two countries have now experienced, firstly, a public empathy towards each other, and secondly, a significant diplomatic rapprochement. This rapprochement though has failed to resolve the Cyprus conflict, and is now at risk of reverting back to a series of conflicts. This book addresses the crucial issues between Greece and Turkey, from a critical perspective, and provides an up-to-date assessment of the current state of the Greek-Turkish rapprochement and its future development. Mensur Akgun, Yeditepe University Ahmet Sozen, Bahcehir University Gulay Gunluk, Istanbul University Thanos Dokos, ELIAMEP Ali Carkoglu, Sabanci Universi

Turkey's relations with an enlarging European Union have long been hit by recurrent crises and problems of adjustment within internal domestic politics as well as from an external, international relations perspective. This book provides an up-to-date review of relevant issues from both perspectives. Analyses focus on the significance of EU adjustment processes for Turkish domestic politics and public opinion. From the perspective of economic dynamics, analyses focus on the impact of a customs union with the EU and the issues surrounding the impending economic policy adjustments. Justice and home affairs issues and human rights practices are two areas where specific policy adjustments are needed in order to conform to the Copenhagen criteria. These adjustments are seen as touching on sensitive domestic politics issues and the analyses herein evaluate the recent developments in these policy areas. In light of these discussions, the book provides an overall evaluation of Turkey's bid for full membership in the EU.

Turkey's relations with an enlarging European Union have long been hit by recurrent crises and problems of adjustment within internal domestic politics as well as from an external, international relations perspective. This book provides an up-to-date review of relevant issues from both perspectives. Analyses focus on the significance of EU adjustment processes for Turkish domestic politics and public opinion. From the perspective of economic dynamics, analyses focus on the impact of a customs union with the EU and the issues surrounding the impending economic policy adjustments. Justice and home affairs issues and human rights practices are two areas where specific policy adjustments are needed in order to conform to the Copenhagen criteria. These adjustments are seen as touching on sensitive domestic politics issues and the analyses herein evaluate the recent developments in these policy areas. In light of these discussions, the book provides an overall evaluation of Turkey's bid for full membership in the EU.

The Middle East has been seen as one of the most volatile regions in the world. It appears to be the exception in the general global trend of peaceful co-operation, economic liberalization, and relative democratization. Is it destined to remain characterized by violent conflicts, authoritarian regimes and closed, inefficient economies? This text explores the current anatomy of regional co-operation and why it has often failed to take hold. It argues that focusing on international and regional factors alone is insufficient in explaining the prevailing instability in the region. Instead the authors highlight domestic factors as crucial to understanding conflict and co-operation in the Middle East. Using many examples and looking particularly at Turkey's experiences, this study shows why it is essential to mobilize domestic support for co-operation amongst countries and regions of the Middle East. Without such support from economic and social groups, inter-governmental co-operation is less likely to last. This study offers an alternative view of politics and international relations in the Middle East. The findings show that co-operation between many of the more open regimes, such as I

Turkish accession to the European Union is an important but controversial item on the agenda of the European Union. By focusing on the various domestic sources that drive Turkish politics, this comprehensive study of both classic and new topics supported by fresh, new insights fills a void in the current literature on Turkey-EU relations.

This volume is a comprehensive, state of the art study of domestic politics and policies and their role in Turkey s EU accession. Contributions are obtained from established scholars, acknowledged for their expertise in their respective fields. The content is structured along issues, dynamics, actors and policies that drive Turkish politics and it provides an integrated assessment of the dynamics in Turkey-EU relations to general readers, students and specialists in EU Enlargement and Turkish politics alike.

Original contributions to classic topics such as the customs union, human rights, military, civil society, public and elite opinion, political parties and the Kurdish issue are made by assessing the domestic sources of recent developments during the negotiations period. In addition, new topics are included that previously have not been covered or analyzed in volumes on Turkish-EU relations such as the Alevi issue, European Turks, corruption in Turkey, and Turkish parliamentary elite opinion on Turkey and the EU.

This book was published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

Ersin Kalaycioglu and Ali Carkoglu, who conducted surveys comparable to the American National Election Survey for the 2002 and 2007 national elections in Turkey, chart the dynamics that brought the pro-Islamist conservative Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi-AKP) to power in 2002, and that continue to influence electoral politics. The authors trace the uneven course of democratization in Turkey, as revealed through elections, since the first competitive, multi-party elections in 1950. Since the market liberalization reforms of 1980, Turkey has been rapidly evolving from a closed, agricultural, comparatively underdeveloped polity into an open, industrial state linked to the global economy. Kalaycioglu and Carkoglu analyze the geographic and socio-economic dimensions of the 2002 and 2007 election data to show how the consequent socio-economic changes and traditional socio-cultural divisions have affected elections, political parties, and individual voters. The authors conclude that the historical divide between rural, peripheral, conservative groups and more urban, centrist, and modernized groups not only persists but shapes elections more than ever. This book not only provides an original comprehensive and critical evaluation of the Turkish electoral and party politics, it also offers a case study of voting behavior in a state undergoing both democratization and market liberalization in a rapidly changing and volatile international environment.