Volkan Yılmaz

Exploring Perceived Discrimination Among LGBT Individuals in Turkey in Education, Employment, and Health Care: Results of an Online Survey

ABSTRACT This article explores the discrimination practices encountered by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in education, income, employment, and health care in Turkey. Limited quantitative data on LGBT individuals are available in Turkey. This study collected data from 2,875 LGBT individuals through a Web-based survey. The findings suggest that LGBT individuals report perceived direct and indirect discrimination in accessing education, employment, and health care. In a country where LGBT rights are not yet recognized and antidiscrimination legislation covering sexual orientation and gender identity is still nonexistent, findings demonstrate perceived discrimination of LGBTs rarely turns into a legal complaint. Even when they do, most LGBTs in our sample report that they did not feel that the justice system addressed their grievances.

Youth welfare policy in Turkey in comparative perspective: a case of ‘Denied Youth Citizenship’

Abstract This article explores the main characteristics of social and economic policies for young people in Turkey. Inspired by Tom Chevalier’s typology of youth welfare citizenship designed for Western European countries, the article situates Turkey’s youth welfare citizenship model within a comparative perspective and contributes to the extension of Chevalier’s typology to a non-Western European country context. Relying upon the systematic analysis of findings of a nationwide survey on young people that was conducted in 2013, comparative youth statistics, official youth statistics, public expenditures data and existing policy frameworks, the article suggests that Turkey fits well with the denied youth citizenship type in Chevalier’s typology. Two conclusions are drawn with respect to Turkey’s youth welfare citizenship model. First, with respect to the social citizenship dimension, the article finds that social and youth policy structure in Turkey has a familialization effect on young people’s access to income. In terms of economic citizenship, the article suggests that Turkey implements a selective strategy that results in unequal distribution of labour market skills among young people.

The New Politics of Healthcare in Turkey

This chapter presents the main puzzle that the book addresses: What political dynamics enabled the introduction of the Health Transformation Programme, Turkey’s healthcare reform? What kind of political conflicts did the reform generate? How and to whose benefit have these conflicts been resolved? The chapter situates these questions within a comparative framework of healthcare reforms and positions Turkey in this framework. The methods used in the research are also explained.

The Politics of Healthcare: A Critical Review of the Literature

This chapter offers answers to the following questions: How can we understand healthcare politics today? What is at stake, and for whom? An overview of the historical foundations of healthcare policy is followed by an exploration of the political nature of the debates surrounding healthcare policies and an introduction to different theoretical takes. Drawing on these theoretical approaches, the chapter presents the political economic context within which healthcare reforms have come onto the political agenda in various countries including Turkey after the 1970s.

The AK Party and the Politics of Healthcare in Turkey in the Last Decade

This chapter investigates the role of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the healthcare reform in Turkey. The chapter examines how and to what extent the AK Party exerted its influence on the content of the reform, tackled the political conflicts throughout the reform process, made the reform politically possible and benefited politically from the outcomes of the reform.

Private Healthcare Provider Organisations as New Actors in the Politics of Healthcare

This chapter investigates the emergence and subsequent role of private healthcare provider organisations during the reform process. The chapter shows how the inclusion of private hospitals into the public health insurance plan led to the emergence of private healthcare provider organisations as a strong actor in healthcare policy. The chapter examines the discourse these organisations employ in influencing the reform, the content of their demands and concerns about the reform, and the strategies they use to reach out to the relevant members of the government and the healthcare bureaucracy.

The Turkish Medical Association as an Actor in the Politics of Healthcare

This chapter examines the role of the TTB in the reform, analysing the origins and modes of contestation between the TTB and the AK Party government during the reform. The chapter demonstrates TTB’s alternative approach to healthcare policy, presents its criticisms towards a pro-market approach and explores its strategies to oppose the reform.

The Health Transformation Programme in Turkey Within the Context of Healthcare Reforms in Other Emerging Market Economies

This chapter examines the main parameters of Health Transformation Programme in Turkey in the broader context of healthcare reforms in emerging market economies. The chapter illustrates similarities and differences between the healthcare reform in Turkey and healthcare reforms in other emerging market economies including Southern European, Latin American and East Asian countries.

Healthcare and Politics in Turkish History

This chapter describes the historical legacy of the healthcare system upon which Turkey’s healthcare reform was introduced, situating it against the background of Turkish politics. The chapter reviews the main tenets of Turkey’s healthcare system prior the reform, including financing and delivery structures, and locates it within a comparative framework.

The Impact of the World Bank on Healthcare Reform in Turkey

This chapter analyses the role of the World Bank in Turkey’s healthcare reform in order to understand how and to what extent the global healthcare reform agenda was able to make its way into healthcare policy circles in Turkey. This chapter investigates the historical and ongoing institutional ties between the World Bank and successive Turkish governments in the healthcare policy domain. The chapter offers insights into the World Bank experts’ subjective understanding of the World Bank’s reform proposals and the HTP.