Minority Rights in Turkey: A Battlefield for Europeanization / Edition 1

by Gözde Yilmaz

Overview

The issue of minority rights is highly contested in both member and candidate states of the European Union. Compared with other policy areas, the Europeanization process in minority rights is much slower and more problematic. Turkey, though, differs from the majority of the member states by showing positive development, although admittedly it is still characterised by both accelerations and slowdowns.

This book examines how minority protection, as a highly sensitive and controversial issue, is promoted or constrained in the EU’s neighbourhood, by focusing on the case of Turkey. It draws on current external Europeanization theories and suggests a rationalist model comprising both the role of the EU and also domestic factors. It integrates two models of external Europeanization provided by Schimmelfennig and Sedelmier (2005), i.e. the external incentives and lesson-drawing models, and the framework of the pull-and-push model of member state Europeanization by Börzel (2000), to derive a comprehensive model for external Europeanization. The book argues that the push by EU conditionality and the pull by domestic dissatisfaction are influential in promoting change. Without one or the other, domestic change remains incomplete, as it is either shallow or selective.

Focusing on the Turkish case, the book enhances the theoretical understanding of external Europeanization by shifting focus away from EU conditionality to voluntarily driven change, and by providing a theoretical model that is applicable to other countries. It will therefore be a valuable resource for students and scholars studying minority rights and Turkish and European ethnic politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138639737
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/08/2017
Series:	Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics
Pages:	170
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Gozde Yilmaz is an Assistant Professor in Atılım University, Turkey. She completed her Ph.D. in Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies (BTS), Free University Berlin. Her further research interests are European integration, Europeanization theories, external Europeanization, EU enlargement policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, Europeanization of Turkey, EU-Turkey Relations and EU-Ukraine Relations.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Exploring the Puzzle of Minority Rights 1. Theorizing Europeanization through Englargement: Pull and Push Model 2. Transformative Power of the European Union, Minority Rights and Turkey 3. Changing Minority Rights of Turkey in 1999-2014 4. Push without Pull in 1999-2004: EU Conditionality Triggers the Reforms 5. Transition to Pull without Push in 2005-2007: From the EU to the 'Domestic' 6. Pull without Push in 2008-2014: Drift from the EU and Rule by the 'Domestic' 7. Alternative Explanations Conclusions Bibliography