Mehmet Bardakci

The Alevi Opening of the AKP Government in Turkey: Walking a Tightrope between Democracy and Identity

Abstract In spite of the favorable climate created with the launch of the Alevi Initiative, which aimed at the settlement of the grievances held by the Alevi community, the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) governments over-cautious approach not to offend the Sunni-Hanefi segments of the electorate has cost them the trust of the Alevi community. Besides, the weak EU political conditionality and the embedded nature of the Sunni-Hanefi interpretation of Islam in both the state and society, not to mention in the legislation, have deterred the AKP government from achieving a fully fledged settlement to the Alevi issue.

2015 parliamentary elections in Turkey: demise and revival of AKP's single-party rule

ABSTRACT Turkey held two consecutive parliamentary elections in an interval of five months that produced entirely different results. The June 7 elections saw the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) lose its parliamentary majority and the rise of the Halkların Demokratik Partisi (HDP) as a game-changer. Following the collapse of coalition talks, the subsequent snap elections held on November 1, 2015 took place under a dramatically different context, being marked with issues of security and stability that trumped the issues that were decisive in the June 7 elections, such as the economic slowdown, growing authoritarianism, and allegations of corruption. The electorates search for a stable and strong government, the AKPs adjustments in an apparent response to the criticisms of the electorate, and the mistakes made by opposition parties gave the AKP the opportunity once again to form a single-party government after the November 1 elections.

Religious minorities in Turkey : Alevi, Armenians, Assyrians and the struggle to desecuritize religious freedom

This book considers the key issue of Turkey’s treatment of minorities in relation to its complex paths of both European integration and domestic and international reorientation. The expectations of Turkey’s EU and other international counterparts, as well as important domestic demands, have pushed Turkey to broaden the rights of religious and other minorities. More recently a turn towards autocratic government is rolling back some earlier achievements. This book shows how broader processes affect the lives of three important religious groups in Turkey: the Alevi as a large Muslim community and the non-Muslim communities of Armenians and Assyrians. Drawing on a wealth of original data and extensive fieldwork, the authors compare and explain improvements, set-backs, and lingering concerns for Turkey’s religious minorities and identify important challenges for Turkey’s future democratic development and European path. The book will appeal to students and scholars in the fields of minority politics, contemporary Turkish politics, and religion and politics.

Securitization and Desecuritization of Minority Rights

Where minority rights are primarily framed as having strong implications for state security, they are securitized. When they are instead discussed in reference to other values (such as democracy or human rights), and when societal actors representing other than security interests dominate their contestation, they are desecuritized. This chapter provides an overview of how Turkey has dealt with its (religious) minorities. It reveals a background of strong securitization of minority rights emerging from the last decades of the Ottoman Empire and the beginnings of the Turkish Republic. It then shows how EU accession negotiations have provided an impetus toward a desecuritization process already begun in the 1980s, which however remains incomplete and far from irreversible.

The Ambivalent Situation of Turkey’s Armenians: Between Collective Historical Trauma and Psychological Repression, Loyal Citizenship and Minority Status, Social Integration and Discrimination, Assimilation and Self-assertion

Unlike the other groups studied in this book, the Armenians have official minority status according to the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). The democratization and improvement of minority rights stimulated by the EU accession process, and corresponding rise in pluralism and empowerment of NGOs, have enhanced the visibility of the Armenian community and the perceived legitimacy of its demands. Yet, despite recent encouraging reforms, there are still many grievances relating, for example, to lack of restitution of confiscated properties, shortage of priests, limitations to self-government in schools and churches, discrimination regarding employment in the civil service and the right to hold political office, anti-minority rhetoric in school textbooks, and difficulties with the restoration and protection of Armenian churches and historical sites.

European Integration and Minority Rights

This chapter explains how minority rights have been addressed in European politics and how the EU has used accession conditionality to advance minority rights in candidate countries like Turkey. The chapter shows that although the EU has made the protection of minorities an explicit criterion for accession, it has not provided unequivocal leadership on minority rights. This ambiguity has supported differences across candidate and member countries. The second part of the chapter provides an overview of how the EU has evaluated Turkey’s progress in the field of minority rights by analyzing the Commission’s annual regular reports from 1998 to 2015. This reveals a pattern of mixed and partial progress that has recently stalled.

The Alevi, the AKP Government and the Alevi Initiative

This chapter discusses the paradoxical relationship of the Alevi community with the Turkish state and covers the awakening among the Alevi community during the 1990s. The EU-supported democratization reforms led to the removal of some restrictions on Alevi political participation and an expansion of human rights and freedoms. The Alevi community became more vocal in the expression of their demands. However, the chapter shows many grievances still remaining. The limited progress is a result of a number of factors, including the mutual mistrust between the Alevi community and the Sunni Islamic AKP government, the entrenched dispute between the two sides as to whether Alevilik is a sect of Islam or a cultural community, as well as deeply rooted social prejudices.

General and Comparative Analysis

The survey whose results are discussed below was conducted by the authors and their team in different regions and cities of Turkey between 2011 and 2013. As it focused on the situation of minorities, not only people from the city of Istanbul were surveyed but especially those from other regions where most members of the target groups live. The questionnaires used comprised 91 questions, most of which were similar or identical across the groups, while each questionnaire also contained some group-specific questions. As the remainder of our data collection, also the survey focused on the Alevi, the Syriacs (or Assyrians), and the Armenians. It thus encompassed a large religious minority, the Alevi; a smaller scientifically neglected Christian minority, the Syriacs; and the Armenians, a minority which is politically very sensitive due to the 1915 events.

Like a Drop in the Ocean: The Last Syriacs in Turkey in a Maelstrom of Nationalism, Islamism, Assimilation, and Diverging Socio-political Interests

Lack of legal minority status according to the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) has put the Syriacs in a disadvantaged position. They have been banned from using their languages in schools and media, and from exercising their religious rights to the full extent. They have also suffered most from the violence in southeast Turkey between state security forces and Kurdish secessionist groups. Due to this conflict, many Syriacs moved to Istanbul or abroad. Since some returned, they struggle to reacquire their properties. Other remaining demands include recognition of legal status for historical and religious sites, return of properties belonging to churches and monasteries, recognition of Syriac clergymen, opening of Syriac schools, and acceptance of the usage of Syriac names.

Growing Together, Growing Apart: Turkey and the European Union Today

This volume provides an up-to-date overview of relations between the EU and Turkey. Is Turkish EU membership still a realistic option today? How has this relationship evolved so far, and with what benefits for both sides? What are currently the main challenges to closer relations and cooperation? In a series of recently written contributions experts explain the core themes in EU-Turkish relations today. The resulting overall picture is one of ambivalence: Turkey and the EU have grown together in important ways, and both sides have benefited from this process. However, the process is neither linear nor irreversible, we find increasing tensions in this relationship, and it appears impossible at this time to predict how EU-Turkish relations will evolve even in the near future.