Sabri Sayarı

Towards a new Turkish party system

This essay examines the impact of the 2002 parliamentary elections in Turkey on the Turkish party system. While the 2002 elections did not indicate a trend toward the stabilization of the electorate, they ushered in a number of important changes in the party system, including the rise to power of a political party with an Islamist pedigree, the emergence of a two‐party system in the parliament, and the replacement of coalition or minority governments with single‐party majority rule. After delineating the changes in the party system, the study discusses possible new paths for party competition in Turkey in the near future.

Political Violence and Terrorism in Turkey, 1976–80: A Retrospective Analysis

During the late 1970s, Turkey experienced a major campaign of political terrorism that was waged by a multiplicity of leftist, ultranationalist, and separatist groups. Between 1976 and 1980, more than 5000 people lost their lives in hundreds of terrorist incidents. The steady escalation of violence amidst a major political and economic crisis undermined the countrys fragile democratic system and paved the way for a military coup in September 1980. This study examines the origins and growth of the terrorist movement in Turkey, the main characteristics of political violence, and the causes of the dramatic escalation of terrorism in the late 1970s. The study suggests that although state-sponsored terrorism against Turkey facilitated the rapid proliferation of leftist, rightist, and separatist armed extremist groups, the drift into total terrorism was largely the product of domestic political and social developments.

The 2007 Elections and Parliamentary Elites in Turkey: The Emergence of a New Political Class?

Abstract This essay analyzes the impact of the 2007 elections in Turkey on the structure of the parliamentary elites. The article begins with an examination of the recent trends in turnover rates. The electoral earthquake of 2002 resulted in the highest turnover in modern Turkish politics. In 2007, the turnover rate declined to 59.3 percent as a result of the relative stabilization of party competition. In the subsequent sections of the essay, the data on the social backgrounds of the deputies with respect to age, gender, occupation, education, and knowledge of the Arabic language are examined. The analysis reveals some notable differences as well as similarities between the political parties that entered the Grand National Assembly in 2007. Of particular importance is the fact that 73 out of 341 AKP deputies know Arabic, presumably as a result of their training at the Imam‐Hatip schools. The essay concludes with the observation that the AKP’s decisive electoral victories in 2002 and 2007 have facilitated the rise of a new political class of parliamentary elites in Turkey.

Back to a Predominant Party System: The November 2015 Snap Election in Turkey

Abstract Turkey’s snap parliamentary election in November 2015 took place in an environment of growing political violence and terrorism resulting from the renewal of the Kurdish conflict in the southeast and two major suicide bombings carried out by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Presenting the coalition arithmetic, the article first examines the failure to form a government after the previous election five months earlier. It then examines the campaign for the November election, including party strategies, key issues and the role of the media, before analysing the results and the election winners and losers. In restoring a parliamentary majority for the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party – AKP) that has governed Turkey continuously for the past 13 years, the November election marked the basic continuity of Turkey’s predominant party system.

Challenges of Triangular Relations: The US, the EU, and Turkish Accession

The US government became deeply involved in European Union (EU)–Turkey relations from the mid-1990s and has provided extensive diplomatic support for full Turkish membership in the EU since then. Washingtons strategic considerations have been paramount in the US governments approach to Turkeys full integration into the EU. The US policy on this issue has played a constructive role in Turkish–US relations. However, it has also created strains in transatlantic ties, since the pressure the US has put on the EU has angered many European officials, who resent what they view as interference in the EUs internal affairs. The US has become more sensitive to the complaints voiced by European leaders and EU officials, and it has adopted a more subtle approach to the issue of Turkish membership. While Washington continues to support Turkeys European integration, it has also recognised that the accession process is likely to be lengthy.

Turkey’s Ministerial Elites: The Growing Importance of Technical Expertise

This chapter analyses the social profiles and political careers of the ministers who served in the Turkish governments from 1950 to 2011. Our findings show that in comparison to the earlier periods in Turkish politics, the ministerial elites have increasingly included larger number of individuals who have expertise in economic and social policy issues. Although technical expertise has become essential for cabinet membership, this trend has not been accompanied by the growing prominence of the non-partisan technocrats, as it has been the case elsewhere in Europe. Technocrats were represented in large numbers in Turkey’s governments between 1960 and 1980. Since then, affiliation with a political party has become an unwritten requirement for holding a ministerial portfolio. While cabinet ministers have been largely recruited from the parliamentary groups of the political parties, majority of them have had no legislative experience and they joined the cabinet only after winning a seat in the parliament for the first time. We argue that the problems that Turkey has experienced in consolidating its democracy along with the importance of clientelism and patronage in party politics are critical in understanding these trends in the making of Turkish cabinets.