A Self-Governing Group or Equal Citizens? Kurds, Turkey and the European Union

This study shows how the theoretical debate between liberal egalitarianism and multiculturalism corresponds to the problem of minorities in Turkey. The differentiated group rights supported by the latter are contrasted with liberal egalitarianism policies to identify which is better suited to the goal of increasing equality in Turkey. The multiculturalist perspective is represented by the European Union (EU) which favours differentiated cultural group rights, while the liberal egalitarian perspective is represented by Turkey’s constitutional citizenship policy. The central argument of this study is that awarding self-government rights to national minorities would not be sufficient to create equality in Turkey’s culturally diverse society. The article points to potential injustices that might result from providing different treating to distinct groups in Turkey, and discusses these with reference to inter-group and intra-group inequalities. Within this framework, the article then provides empirical evidence for the egalitarian critique of multiculturalism and seeks to demonstrate that EU minority conditionality, and in particular the self-government rights that it proposes, are unlikely to create a more democratic society in Turkey

Shifting paradigms: null remedies for national minorities from civic egalitarianism to ethnic multiculturalism: a context sensitive approach

National minorities, who claim autonomy and self-government rights, have always been a controversial problem in the fields of international law, political theory and nationalism. Multiculturalism and egalitarianism are two approaches that have long been discussed in all of these fields and implemented in various contexts. The success of policies that seem to be associated with these two approaches, however, has varied from one case to another. This study asks if failures of these approaches have anything to do with the contexts in which they take place. If so, what is the context in which these approaches prove to be futile? Theorists themselves explain aspects of an ideal context under which their theories can become fruitful. These ideal contexts and circumstances are, however, unrealistic; and their assumptions about the nature of social relationships do not always correspond with the reality. This study aims to find a more reliable criterion to assess the applicability of multiculturalism and egalitarianism. The thesis explains the relationship between national minorities and the state through a phenomenological paradigm. In this paradigm national minorities, the thesis argues, vary according to the state nationalisms they have experienced in the past. The thesis analyses the relational nature of minority and state nationalisms from this inter-subjective perspective. Within this framework, this study posits the hypothesis that multiculturalism and egalitarianism cannot produce viable solutions to the problems of national minorities who were persistently exposed to the policies of forced assimilation and civic state nationalism. The study reveals that a certain strand of multiculturalism that is ethnocentric cannot come to terms with such national minorities under the integrationist civic state nationalism because, from an inter-subjective perspective, the boundaries between the majority and the minority communities in this context are more fluid and diverse than they would otherwise have been. In such cases, resorting to ethno-centric multiculturalism and promoting the ‘authentic’ ethnic identities hampers the very diversity it seeks to promote. The thesis suggests that differenceblind egalitarianism is equally problematic in such cases because it cannot come to terms with the systematic injustice and the concomitant conflict that the policies of forced assimilation have created. As such its implementation weakens the very equality it seeks to promote. In order to explore and test this hypothesis, the dissertation makes use of a single in-depth case study of Turkey. In the period of candidacy for accession to the EU, Turkey is currently experimenting with ethnocentric multiculturalism to accommodate its Kurdish population more equitably. In Turkey, however, neither the contemporary discourse of ethno-centric multiculturalism nor the historical implementation of difference-blind egalitarianism seems to be a viable option from a liberal perspective. Observing the reasons for this failure enables the reader to develop a new insight to identify the cases where those theoretical perspectives could be more successful. Mindful of the fact that generalizing from a single case study is difficult, the case of Turkey will also be situated within a study of comparative cases to test the consistency of the hypothesis in this dissertation

The Andican uprising, 13 May 2005

Ankara : The Department of International Relations, Bilkent University, 2008.Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 2008.Includes bibliographical references leaves 110-120.Since the collapse of the Soviet Union state building process in Uzbekistan became subjected to the social, political and economic problems. When all these factors came together Andican Uprising occurred on 13 May 2005. In this thesis I tried to clarify the basic motives behind the Andican Uprising. By investigating these motives, I attempted to shed light on religious fundamentalism that the Government of Uzbekistan faced after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a part of problematical state building process, role of domestic politics in the emergence of the uprising was also covered by pointing out the characteristics of clan politics and civil society in Uzbekistan. Reasons of the event were also investigated on international level. In this context geopolitical strategy of international actors, the colored revolutions and U.S – Uzbekistan relations were explored. Economic integration of Uzbekistan to world economy and its failing reformation process was explored. While promotion of iv democracy in Uzbekistan was necessitating broader freedom for society, religious fundamentalism led the government to intensify its authoritarian character. These two conflicting characteristics of the country created two sides over which international actors played their cards. While the west insisted on the democratization of the country the east supported the Uzbek government’s harsh measurement over religious groups. Andican Uprising is an important case in which it is possible to find all prominent characteristics of the Uzbek politics, and therefore this thesis can be taken as a laboratory work in which all relevant traces were investigated to understand Uzbekistan.Kuzu, DurukanM.S