Party identification, islam and secularism in Turkey

The current Turkish party system is only a few decades old, and some parties are even younger. We should expect scant evidence of psychological ties of the voters and the political parties they support at the polls in Turkey. Indeed, earlier research on the Turkish parties and voting behavior, conducted by Hofferbert and Erguder (1985), Kalaycioglu (1994 and 1999), Ozbudun (2000), Sayari and Esmer (2002), Carkoglu (2004), and Carkoglu and Hinich (2005) indicated that Turkey tends to host a plenitude of political parties due to several cultural and ideological divides that separate the Turkish party systems in various blocs. The above-mentioned literature indicates that secular – Islamist divide is in part responsible in the socio-cultural cleavages that divide up the Turkish body politic. Moreover, data analysis seems to indicate that the management of macro economy and performance of the parties in government influence electoral choices, and the socio-cultural cleavages of the country play relatively large role in determining party preferences of the voters in Turkey. However, the earlier research has been inconclusive about the role played by such psychological factors as party identification in Turkey. In this paper first of all, the role that such socio-cultural cleavages as secularism versus Islamism in determining party identification play is examined. Secondly various determinants of party preferences are comparatively examined to evaluate the role played by such factors as ideology, identity, economic expectations and party identification of the voters in Turkish politics of the early 2000s. A causal model that assesses the relative influence that ideological, economic, and psychological (party identification) factors play in the determination of party preferences of the Turkish voters is developed and tested by the help of the data collected by means of a national survey in April – May 2006. In the final and the third part of the paper a comparative evaluation of factors that explain party preferences across secular and Islamist parties in Turkey are attempted, with the specific aim of ascertaining the role that reason versus dogma play in the party politics that operate in a Muslim society and secular democratic syste

Public choice and foreign affairs: democracy and international relations in Turkey

In a democracy it is through the process of voting that people find an opportunity to register their likes and dislikes of domestic and foreign policy decisions most effectively. In Turkey, the recent national elections on 22 July 2007 provided an opportunity to observe the nexus between voters' choices and foreign policy issues, Questions pertaining to problems facing the Country and the campaign issues fail to give any clue as to whether people paid attention to foreign policy in making their choices among the political parties of the country. However, a closer examination of the factors determining the vote indicates that, although party identification and satisfaction with the performance of the economy and the expectations of the government in managing the economy played major roles, attitudes towards the European Union (EU), nationalism, and globalization closely followed in magnitude those two factors in determining the voters' party preferences across the left-right spectrum. While AKP supporters had the most favorable attitude towards the EU, MHP supporters appeared highly nationalistic, and CHP voters seemed most influenced by positive orientations to openness to the world

Hicab, türban, and democracy: religious freedom versus political protest

The attire of women, in particular the style of donning of the headscarf to cover the head, neck and the shoulders of women (türban) by pious Sunni women has once again become the center of controversy in Turkish higher education and politics. The amended versions of articles 10 and 42 of the 1982 Constitution of Turkey, which enhance equality before the law of the Turkish citizens, were referred to the oversight of the Constitutional Court as a potential breach of the secularist principles of the Republic. Almost simultaneously, the AKP, which won the most votes and seats in the National Assembly after the July 22, 2007 elections and formed the government alone, has also been indicted on the grounds of becoming the focal point of activities against secularism, due in part for promoting the türban as a political symbol. The Constitutional Court will decide whether the AKP needs to be sanctioned for such acts and be even closed down or not. Therefore, the türban has become a political issue that not only divides secular and religious Sunnis, but also makes and breaks parties and governments in Turkey. Attitudes and orientations to the türban and religious dress codes for women have become critical to the performance of the political parties, governments and democracy in Turkey. In fact, türban has now become the symbol of Islam in democratic politics in Turkey, and represents the role that religion plays in democratic politics of a Muslim society. In this paper, I will use the data collected right before the general election of July 22, 2007 in a nationally representative survey of voter attitudes, beliefs, values and reported behavior, and determine to what extent the adult population in Turkey perceived the türban as an issue of religious freedom of the pious women versus a political symbol of organized political Islamic movement at the time of the election. Secondly, the paper also scrutinizes the extent to which the voters perceive the türban as a pressing issue of the country that needed the attention of the political elite. Thirdly, a few studies have so far been conducted by Carkoglu, Göle, Kalaycioglu, Özdalga, and Toprak to examine the role of türban and religious women in Turkish politics and society, yet no study has yet been conducted on the role that attitudes toward the türban play in the decisions of the voters at the polls. The paper will examine the role that the türban played in determining the orientations of the voters toward the political parties, and to what extent it played a role in determining the voters’ choice at the polls on July 22, 2007 general elections, and thus contributed to the election victory of the AKP, a party all of the leaders of which have wives who don the türban. Finally, the paper concludes with an assessment of how far as a potent symbol of Sunni religiosity the türban influences the performance of democracy in Turkish society, where a huge majority of the people consists of Sunni Muslims

Justice and development party at the Helm: resurgence of islam or restitution of right of center predominant party?

General elections of July 22, 2007 witnessed a very rare occasion in Turkish politics. The Justice and Development Party (AKP), which had been in government since the 2002 elections managed to increase its votes dramatically and obtain an overwhelming majority in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA). It was a first since the 1954 elections in the country. The leader and the front bench of the AKP have come from the political Islamist National Outlook (Milli Gorus) movement. With immaculate Islamist credentials the electoral victories of the AKP in the 2000s have been interpreted as the demise of secularism and resurgence of Islam in Turkey. Has 47 percent of the Turkish electorate voted for political Islam in the July 22, 2007 elections? Is it religious credentials of the AKP or its leader and the front bench that have attracted the voters in droves to the support of that party at the polls, or are there some other factors at play? This paper sets out to examine and compare the voter profiles in the 2002 and 2007 elections, with the objective of determining the profiles of the voters who supported the AKP versus its main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the champion of secularism in Turkish politics. The paper sets out to ascertain whether the voter profiles of the Turkish parties have changed between 2002 and 2007, and how? The nationally representative election surveys of 2002 and 2007 will be used to analyze such individual level characteristics of attitudes, beliefs and values of the Turkish voters, and assess the role played by religiosity, economic expectations and the performance of the economy, foreign policy, and in specific EU – Turkey relations, parochialism, and nationalist feelings in determining the preferences of the voters across the left – right spectrum in Turkey. Such an analysis will enable us to unearth the importance of religiosity in the voters’ choices, and the extent to which Turkish voters have shunned away from secularism per se

Attitudinal orientation to party organizations in Turkey in the 2000s

The Turkish party system experienced a serious blow in the early 1980s, when the military government in power closed down all the former legal political parties. Therefore, little evidence of strong psychological ties between voters and the political parties they supported at the polls is expected. This essay draws upon existing literature on voting behavior to develop four hypotheses to explain partisan affiliations of Turkish voters. Each of the hypotheses is then put to empirical tests, using data collected by means of a nationally representative survey. The four independent variables used in the four hypotheses are the role of parents' party identification (socialization), ideological orientations, economic expectations, and the ethnic identities of voters. Socialization emerges as a major determinant of partisan affiliation with the relatively older Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Action Party (MHP), while identifiers with the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) take few cues from their parents and pay more attention to the economic performance of that party in government. Ideology seems to play a major role in determining the psychological orientations of those who feel attached to the CHP versus the AKP or the MHP but little role in differentiating AKP from MHP voters. Ethnicity only plays a role in partisan affiliation with the MHP

Indicator-based evaluation of inter-linkages between different sustainable development objectives (INDI-LINK)

The INDI-LINK project has three main objectives: (1) further improvement of sustainable development indicators (SDI), (2) assessment of interlinkages between the different priorities of the EU SDS and (3) deriving conclusions for future SD policy making. To achieve these objectives, INDI-LINK will develop new concepts and methods and improve data for the calculation of selected 'best-needed' and proxy indicators; test different methods for extending indicator time series through forecasting; review emerging policy areas, for which no indicators exist so far; develop a solid conceptual framework for interlinkage assessment based on a comparative analysis of analytical frameworks, methods and tools; provide a quantitative analysis of interlinkages using select ed indicators with best-suited assessment methods and identify most effective combinations of environmental, economic and social policy measures, focusing on the maximum use of synergies and best possible mitigation of potential trade-offs. A series of 4 workshops will be organised, where representatives of relevant DGs and external experts will be involved. The INDI-LINK consortium has a well-established institutional balance and includes four university institutes, one national statistical institute, one public-private research institute and three private research institutions (SMEs). As INDI-LINK partners are coordinating or participating in a number of other relevant projects on the EU level, INDI-LINK will provide and make full use of synergies with projects such as MATISSE, Sustainability A-Test, SUSTOOLS, FORESCENE and MOSUS. The project will provide recommendations for priorities in future SDI development on the EU level, for future assessments of interlinkages and for an effective implementation of t he revised EU SDS, with a particular focus on policy integration across different SD dimensions.STREP - Specific Targeted Research Project (FP6-2005-SSP-5-A

Factors Affecting Export Performance in the Context of Strategic Management: Proposal of a Theoretical Model

Exporting attracts attention as an international sales activity, which has been studied by the country’s economic managements, firm managers and academic researchers as it reduces the current deficit by providing foreign exchange inflow in economy and has positive effects on the profitability indicators at the firm level. Though there are many studies on the factors that affect export performance of firms, in the literature, most of the studies are not theoretical. For firms, export activity is the most common strategic option to access to the international markets. Considering the export activity from the strategic management perspective provides a high prediction in terms of understanding the factors that affect export performance. In this study, the factors that affect export activity of the firms are examined from the strategic management perspective within the scope of the theoretical approaches presented in the literature. In this regard, the effects of competitive strategies within the scope of the industrial organization theory, and of firm resources and capabilities within the scope of the resource-based view on export performance are discussed, and a theoretical model has been presented