On the Europeanization of minority rights protection

Abstract

This chapter discusses the rational-choice and sociological institutionalism to shed light on the impact of Europeanization on minority rights in Turkey. It aims to explain the significant bifurcations that emerged in the field of minority rights as far as progress achieved since the slowdown of Turkey's European Union (EU) accession negotiations. The study of minority rights reform helps to suggest two points: the relevance of rational-choice institutionalism appears strong, as major legislative initiatives are normally linked with critical junctures in EU-Turkey relations and the establishment of conducive opportunity structures in Turkish politics; and reform can be also explained in terms of the prevalence of ideational frameworks that may or may not be linked with the European Union and Turkey's EU membership process. The case of minority protection provides an opportunity to think about the applicability of different theoretical tools in Turkey's Europeanization experience.