William Hale

Christian Democracy and the AKP: Parallels and Contrasts

Abstract Although the leaders of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) stress that their party is not based on religion, a comparison with the Christian democrat parties of Western Europe seems worthwhile, since the AKP clearly has Islamist origins, and espouses faith‐based values. This essay summarizes the history of Christian democrat parties in France, Germany and Italy, concluding that they have tended to drift closer to classic conservatism. In comparing them with the AKP, it suggests that while there are some important similarities, significant differences also arise, thanks to the altered environment in which the AKP was established, and some relevant differences between the Muslim and Christian religions and their attitudes towards the state.

Turkey, the Middle East and the Gulf crisis

Ever since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, it has been a generally accepted judgement that Turkey is in the Middle East, but not fully part of it. Culturally and politically, Turkey and the other Middle Eastern countries have tended to follow separate paths. By the I99os, and in comparison with the rest of Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Turkey has become economically successful, democratic and stable. Hence, its position has sometimes been compared to that of Japan-as a potentially powerful actor which prefers not to play a commensurate regional role and stays on the edge of a regional subsystem. The events of the last three years have undermined some of the assumptions on which this policy of aloofness was based. On one hand, the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union have made it possible for Turkey, like other former Soviet neighbours, to consider more flexible regional policies. On the other hand, the Gulf crisis of I99o-9I demonstrated that, even if the superpower conflict has ended, the Middle East is still a prime source of global instability. During the last two years, Turkey has also emerged as an important actor in the politics of Transcaucasia, Central Asia, the Black Sea region and the Balkans. A full discussion of Turkish policy in all these areas would require far more space than is available here. This article therefore restricts itself to examining Turkeys relations with its Middle Eastern neighbours, by considering first some of the factors which shaped Turkish regional policy in the postwar era, and then the implications of Turkeys experiences during the Gulf crisis of I990-9I.

Turkey's domestic political landscape: A glance at the past and the future

For those unfamiliar with the story, the first part of this article summarises the main developments in Turkey’s politics since the last general elections, held in December 1995, and the current position of the government with its short-run prospects. The second part tries to broaden the focus, by considering future perspectives in a variety of contexts. These include the future of the party system and possible constitutional changes, the prospects for political Islamism and the political position of the armed forces, the human rights regime and the Kurdish question, and deeper changes affecting political culture, and the relationship between the state and civil society.

Turkey and the Arab Spring: Leadership in the Middle East, by Graham E.Fuller

As a former senior member of the CIA, Graham Fuller has an impressive list of thought-provoking books to his credit on Middle Eastern politics – Iran and Turkey in particular – and political Islam....