Browsing by Subject "Justice and Development Party"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Open Access
The Analysis of Turkish foreign policy under Justice and Development Party government in the post-9/11 world
(2008) Yanarışık, Oğuzhan
The disastrous attacks on 11 September 2001 signalled the beginning of a new era within which more people believe that Islam is in conflict with the West and western values. Although the Islamic political identity was traditionally based on opposition to the West and the westernization in Turkey, rapprochement between the Turkish Islamists and western values occurred ironically in the same era. The establishment and the rise of Justice and Development Party (JDP) are seen by many observers as an evidence of this transformation in the position of Islamists towards the West. This thesis evaluates the impact of systemic interactions on the identity formation, interest construction, and thus foreign policy behaviours of JDP-led Turkey through constructivist lenses. In other words, it takes the changing international environment in the post 9/11 world as independent variable, within which international norms are interrogated, East-West perceptions are reconsidered and identities are reconstructed. On the other hand, it takes identity, interests and behaviors of JDP-led Turkey and other international actors as dependent variables.
Open Access
From political Islam to conservative democracy: the case of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey
(Routledge, 2006-12) Özbudun, E.
If one of the most interesting characteristics of the Turkish party system in the 1990s was the rapid rise of political Islam under the banner of the Welfare Party, an equally, perhaps even more, noteworthy development in the early 2000s is its transformation under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) leadership into a moderate conservative democratic party. Various aspects of this transformation are the central focus of this work. The AKP is compared with the earlier Islamist parties in terms of ideology, organization, competitive strategy, and government performance.
Open Access
International fluctuations and domestic limitations: Turkish-Israeli relations in the new millennium
(Peter Lang AG, 2015) Fildes, H.
Turkey was the first Muslim state to recognize Israel in 1949 and since this time, military and economic bilateral relations have grown exponentially, particularly since the election of the Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi in 2002. This evidence is indicative that, contrary to popular opinion, the AKP's purportedly Islamic identity did not stand in the way of creating ties with Israel based on geo-strategic, economic and security realities. Although this remains the case in Turkey, as a democracy, the government is not immune to changes in public opinion and thus has developed a populist discourse on this matter. Consequently, Operation Cast Lead, Davos and the Mavi Marmara incident have left Turkish-Israeli diplomatic and political relations frozen and caused a key divergence from Turkey's "zero-problems" policy in the region. Yet despite emphatic language, the divide between practice and discourse when it comes to Turkey's 'hard' stance towards Israel is stark. Although vocally critical of Israel's policies in Palestine, trade relations have remained immune to diplomatic difficulties and continue to increase under the AKP's jurisdiction. Consequently, this chapter will examine the disjuncture between the continuously strong trading and economic relations between Israel and Turkey in the light of the diplomatic ice age, examining the domestic and international factors which dictate said relations. In order to provide a comprehensive examination of both discursive and practical transformations in Turkish Foreign Policy behaviour and the political economy of the AKP, the function and effect of domestic ideational, historical and cultural variables must be examined. Such variables dictate the complex political opportunity structure in which the AKP operates, and consequently, define the future relations of these two important regional powers. Analysis of such contentious issues is increasingly important for understanding Turkey's decision-making processes. Turkey's future role as a regional power, as well as their EU accession bid is predicated on the normalization of Turkish-Israeli relations. Not only do Turkish-Israeli relations speak volumes about the nature and purpose of the AKP's power, but also implicitly define their limitations as a dominant actor in the international system. © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Frankfurt am Main 2015. All rights reserved.
Open Access
Turkey's "new" foreign policy toward Eurasia
(Taylor & Francis, 2011) Bilgin, P.; Bilgiç, A.
Two geographers specializing in Turkey's international relations examine the reframing of foreign policy issues under the country's Justice and Development Party (JDP; also known by its Turkish acronym AKP), in power since 2002. After first locating the JDP within Turkey's current political landscape, the authors investigate how notions of civilizational geopolitics have led to a "new geographic imagination" under JDP that has influenced foreign policy thinking. The authors argue that JDP foreign policy exhibits some continuity with that of earlier governments in terms of activist policies toward Central Eurasia (comprising the Middle East, Central Asia, and Transcaucasia), but are based on a new conceptual foundation that views Turkey not as part of Western civilization but as the emerging leader of its own "civilizational basin" (consisting of the former Ottoman territories plus adjoining regions inhabited by Muslim and Turkic peoples). They then explore the implications for Turkey's future relations with the Central Eurasian region (of which Turkey is assumed to be the leader) and countries of the West (viewed now as "neighbors" but no longer "one of us").
Open Access
The Turkish political economy after the 2000-2001 financial crises : an unusual chapter written by the first Justice and Development Party government
(2007) Afşar, Emre
This thesis analyzes the five-year period of the Turkish political economy following the 2000-2001 financial crises. This five-year period signifies an important point of departure from the classical Turkish political economy as stable and rapid growth was sustained for over twenty consecutive quarters. The strong commitment to the fiscal discipline and to the powerful external anchors such as the IMF and EU were key to this success. The central question is what motivated the JDP government to show this longlasting commitment to the fiscal discipline and the external anchors particularly to the IMF-induced economic programs. Growing ties with the global economy, the new institutional framework, the new balance of power within the networks shaping the Turkish political economy and the successful implementation of the JDP’s prudent political economy agenda are the four plausible explanations for the central question. Each of these explanations is elaborated in a separate chapter and the growing ties with the global economy prevail as the most competent explanation since it directly contributes to the emerging of the other three explanations.