Browsing by Subject "Political relations"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Open Access
Building democracy to last: the Turkish experience in comparative perspective
(Routledge, 2015) Cinar K.; Cinar, M. U.
This study analyses the relationship between checks and balances and democracy, focusing on Turkey in comparative perspective. In a large-N setting, the effects of checks and balances on the quality of democracy are examined. The findings reinforce the essential relationship between democracy and checks and balances. The article then discusses the implications of the the findings for Turkey. It stresses the need for horizontal accountability via checks and balances vested in different state agencies. In addition to state-level checks and balances, the importance of societal actors as sources of accountability is also elaborated. The study identifies the need for vertical accountability, not only through free elections but also by creating a political setting in which pluralistic media and civil society can thrive. In light of findings, the article stresses the need for a new constitutional framework that can embrace both state- and societal-level checks and balances. © 2015 Taylor & Francis.
Open Access
Hybrid hegemonic masculinity of the EU before and after the Arab Spring: a gender analysis of Euro-Mediterranean security relations
(Routledge, 2015-05-07) Bilgic, A.
In the academic literature on EU–southern Mediterranean relations, a focal point of neglect has been the gendered dimension of Euro-Mediterranean relations. This article argues that the Euro-Mediterranean space has been formed within the gendered global West/non-West relations with the purpose of promoting the West's security interests. Euro-Mediterranean security relations, thus, embody a gendered power hierarchy between the hybrid hegemonic masculinity of the EU (bourgeois-rational and citizen-warrior) and the subordinate (both feminized and hypermasculinized) southern neighbourhood. In addition, it shows that following the Arab Spring the EU has been determined to maintain the status quo by reconstructing these gendered power relations. This gender analysis contributes to the literature on Euro-Mediterranean relations through its specific focus on the (re)construction processes of gendered identities within the West/non-West context in tandem with the EU's competing notions of security.
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 presidential elections of 10 August 2014
(Routledge, 2015) Grigoriadis, I. N.
The Turkish presidential elections of 10 August 2014 were the first direct elections in the history of republican Turkey. The election of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the first round illustrated his dominant position in Turkish politics, as well as the inability of opposition parties to provide an alternative candidate who appealed to the Turkish electorate. Growing social polarization and concern about emerging autocratic tendencies, corruption allegations and the multilevel crisis in the Middle East failed to dissuade Turkish voters. Nevertheless, the fulfilment of Erdoğan’s declared intention of introducing presidentialism in Turkey will depend on the result of the upcoming parliamentary elections, to be held in June 2015 at the latest. © 2015, © 2015 Taylor & Francis.