Turkey

[review] Turks-Armeense betrekkingen

by Matthijs van den Bos

Van den Bos, M. 1993. "Turks-Armeense betrekkingen [Turkish and Armenian relations]." Review of Sipaan, N.S. 1993. De halve maan boven Ararat. Soera. Tijdschrift over het Midden-Oosten 1 (4): 39.

Effect of 2008 Global Financial Crisis over Turkey

by mehmet yalcin

The Experimental Firing of a Neolithic Oven (Çatalhöyük, Turkey)

by Daniel Eddisford

An Archaeology of the Contemporary: A Standing Buildings Survey of “The Chicken Shed” at Çatalhöyük

by Daniel Eddisford

Analysis of Turkish precipitation data: homogeneity and the Southern Oscillation forcings on frequency distributions

by Ercan Kahya

Co-authored with "M.Ç. Karabo ̈rk and A.U. Ko ̈mu ̈şçü"
Published in Hydrol. Process. 21, 3203–3210 (2007).

The homogeneity of newly compiled 212 precipitation records in Turkey for the period 1973-2002 was checked by the... more The homogeneity of newly compiled 212 precipitation records in Turkey for the period 1973-2002 was checked by the Standard Normal Homogeneity Test (SNHT) and Pettitt Test. Stations were considered inhomogeneous if at least one of the tests rejects the homogeneity. As a result, 43 out of 212 stations were found to be inhomogeneous. In addition, the previously detected Southern Oscillation (SO)-related precipitation anomalies by the authors were quantified at each station using the gamma distribution. The observed SO-related shifts in the median precipitation amounts expressed as gamma percentiles may be considered as a typical SO response of that station. The results of this study confirm the wet responses of Turkish precipitations to El Nino events, whereas those for La Nina events seem to be masked by sampling variations within the study period.

KEY WORDS homogeneity test; precipitation; El Nino; La Nina; Southern Oscillation; Turkey

The Lost Logic of State-Owned Banks: Mexico, Turkey, and Neoliberalism

by Thomas Marois

Nükleer Enerji Sahibi Olma Kararını Etkileyen Faktörler ve Türkiye için Tahminler

by Uluslararası İlişkiler

Bülent Köksal, Abdülkadir Civan, "Nükleer Enerji Sahibi Olma Kararını Etkileyen Faktörler ve Türkiye için Tahminler", Uluslararası İlişkiler, Cilt 6, Sayı 24 (Kış), 2009

Bu çalışmada, 67 ülkenin 1980–2005 yılları arasında aldıkları nükleer enerjiye sahip olma kararı ve nükleer santral... more Bu çalışmada, 67 ülkenin 1980–2005 yılları arasında aldıkları nükleer enerjiye sahip olma kararı ve nükleer santral kurulma durumunda nükleer enerjinin toplam enerji içerisindeki payını etkileyen ekonomik, politik, sosyal ve coğrafi faktörler analiz edilmiştir. Örneklemin seçicilik problemleri olması dikkate alınarak yapılan ekonometrik analiz sonucunda kişi başı reel milli gelir seviyesi ile nükleer enerjiye sahip olma olasılığı arasında pozitif bir ilişki olduğu, ama bu ilişkinin gelir seviyesi arttıkça zayıfl adığı bulunmuştur. Modelden elde edilen parametre tahminleri kullanılarak yapılan hesaplamalarda, Türkiye’nin nükleer enerjiye geçme ihtimalinin 1990’lardan itibaren düzenli olarak artarak, 2005 sonunda % 45 düzeyine geldiği görülmektedir. TÜİK’in AB ulusal hesap sistemi ESA 95’e uyum için milli gelir hesaplamalarında yaptığı değişiklik sonucu elde edilen değerler kullanılarak yapılan tahminlere göre bu oranın % 60’a ulaştığı görülmektedir. Son olarak tahminler, Türkiye’nin bugün nükleer enerji santraline sahip olması durumunda üreteceği nükleer enerjinin, toplam enerjisinin yaklaşık % 14’le 16’sına karşılık geleceğini göstermektedir.

Turkey’s Nuclear Agenda: Domestic and Regional Implications

by Uluslararası İlişkiler

Gökhan Bacık, Sammas Salur, "Turkey’s Nuclear Agenda: Domestic and Regional Implications", Uluslararası İlişkiler, Cilt 6, Sayı 24 (Kış), 2009

Bu çalışma Türkiye’nin nükleer enerji ilgili gündemini maddi ve maddi olmayan temeller üzerinden irdelemektedir. Her... more Bu çalışma Türkiye’nin nükleer enerji ilgili gündemini maddi ve maddi olmayan temeller üzerinden irdelemektedir. Her iki temel de Türkiye’nin uluslararası pozisyonunun bölgesel ve iç politika düzlemlerinde ele alınmasını gerektirmektedir. Çalışma, Türkiye’nin iç ve uluslararası düzeyde izlediği politikalardaki değişiklikleri nükleer enerji gibi hassas bir konu üzerinden izlemektedir. Buradaki amaç değişen politikaların ülkeyi nereye taşıdığının görülmek istenmesidir. Bir diğer deyişle, Türkiye’nin uluslararası hukuka saygılı bir nükleer ülke mi yoksa nükleer enerji ihtiyacını iç ve bölgesel anlamdaki liberal gündemiyle buluşturan bir ülke mi olacağı tartışması yazının temelini oluşturmaktadır. Metodolojik anlamda; temel problematik ‘normlar modeli’ üzerinden ele alınmaktadır. Bu bağlamda Türkiye’nin bölgesel politikalarının anatomisinin çıkarılması amacıyla komşu ülkelerle ilişkiye geçtiği “yeni kurumsal yaklaşım” ele alınmıştır. Bölge ülkeleriyle ilişkilerde Türkiye’nin nükleer enerjiye ve bölgedeki istikrara duyduğu ihtiyaç kimlik sorunundan bağımsız olarak maddi temeller üzerinden tartışılmıştır.

A Theoretical Evaluation of Different Faces of Power: US-Turkey Relations Towards Iraq

by Uluslararası İlişkiler

Ahmet Sözen, "A Theoretical Evaluation of Different Faces of Power: US-Turkey Relations Towards Iraq", Uluslararası İlişkiler, Cilt 6, Sayı 24 (Kış), 2009

Bu makalede bir lider(patron/hegemon) ülke tarafından lider-olmayan (müşteri) bir ülkeyi kendi siyaseti doğrultusunda... more Bu makalede bir lider(patron/hegemon) ülke tarafından lider-olmayan (müşteri) bir ülkeyi kendi siyaseti doğrultusunda işbirliğine çekme yönünde gücün farklı formlarda (düzeylerde) nasıl kullanıldığı araştırılmaktadır. Literatürde işbirliği üzerine yazılmış eserler çoğunluğu siyasetin doğrudan gözlemlenebildiği pazarlık gücü üzerinde yoğunlaşmaktadır. Bu makale lider-olmayan bir ülke olan Türkiye ile lider ülke olan Amerika arasındaki Körfez Krizi (1990) ve Irak Savaşı (2003) dönemlerindeki ilişkilerinin tam olarak anlaşılmasında pazarlık gücü modelinin yeterli olmadığını göstermektedir. Bu makalede Karause’un üç düzeyli güç modelinin Türkiye ve Amerika Birleşik Devletleri arasındaki güç ilişkisini en kapsamlı şekilde anlamak ve açıklamak için çok daha iyi bir model olduğu iddia edilmektedir.

Turkey's Ministry of National Education Study-Abroad Program: Is the MoNE Making the Most of Its Investment?

by Servet Celik

The Rise and Decline of the Turkish “Deep State”: The Ergenekon Case.

by Serdar Kaya

Kaya, Serdar. 2009. Insight Turkey 11(4): 99-113.

This article tests Mancur Olson’s theory of distributional coalitions against the case of the Turkish “deep state.”... more This article tests Mancur Olson’s theory of distributional coalitions against the case of the Turkish “deep state.” Olson’s theory holds that rent-seeking (or specialinterest) groups tend to be exclusive by nature and pursue only the interests of their own members. Since their members account to a very small minority, these groups present their interests as being the interests of larger communities. The article argues that the Turkish case confirms the fundamental assumptions of the theory of distributional coalitions. An analysis of the historical process of the newly-exposed Turkish deep state reveals that, when put in proper context, its clandestine activities manifest a pattern which involves systematic efforts of an exclusive circle of group members (1) to impact the workings of Turkish society, and more recently, (2) to reverse the country’s democratization process in an effort to sustain the network’s dominating influence.

The Social Psychology of the Ergenekon Case: The Collapse of the Official Narrative in Turkey

by Serdar Kaya

Kaya, Serdar. 2012. Middle East Critique 21(2)

This paper examines the developments before and after the Ergenekon case in regard to the alternative retrospective... more This paper examines the developments before and after the Ergenekon case in regard to the alternative retrospective that the emerging counter-narrative has introduced to the recent Turkish history. This retrospective is diametrically opposed to the perspective of the official narrative, especially in terms of the way it interprets the landmark historical events and primary actors. This paper thus argues that recent developments in Turkey since 2002, and then the Ergenekon case, have constituted a "meaning threat" for those who subscribe to the official narrative. As some of the recent works in the social psychology literature demonstrate, meaning threats occur when people apprehend new experiences that are at odds with the frameworks through which they give meaning to and view their outer worlds. According to that argument, people feel more comfortable when they experience an event that supports their cultural worldviews, because such an experience either helps them feel less uncertain about themselves or makes it easier to tolerate uncertainty. For the same reason, experiences that conflict with people's worldviews cause negative reactions. Applying to the Turkish case the insights offered by these works, this paper argues that, in the Turkish case, those who experience meaning threats take resort in political conservatism, which, in the political context of the country, corresponds to paternalist authoritarianism and assertive ethnic nationalism.

Islamist power politics threaten clean-up of Turkish soccer

by James M. Dorsey

By James M. Dorsey

Scandal-ridden Turkish soccer is playing two parallel existential matches: one to... more By James M. Dorsey

Scandal-ridden Turkish soccer is playing two parallel existential matches: one to eradicate widespread corruption and match-fixing, another involving two Islamist teams for the hearts and minds of Turkish soccer fans.

The team of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former soccer player and member of Istanbul’s storied Fenerbahce Spor Kulubu, has regained the lead in the battle of the Islamists with a decision by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) to clear the Turkish leader’s club and 15 others of charges of involvement in match-fixing.

The controversial TFF’s decision came three months after the soccer body against Mr. Erdogan’s wish rejected a proposal backed by the prime minister that would have shielded clubs guilty of match fixing from being relegated. The defeat of the proposal prompted the TFF’s three top officials, including its vice chairman, Goksel Gumusdag, a brother-in-law of Mr. Erdogan, to resign.

The surprise TFF vote followed Mr. Erdogan’s success in driving through parliament against the will of President Abdullah Gul, believed to be an ally of Fethullah Gulen, a powerful, self-exiled, Pennsylvania-based cleric, who backs harsh punishment, including relegation, of those involved in the match-fixing scandal, to limit punishment of people guilty of match fixing.

For Mr. Erdogan however to decisively win his match against Mr. Gulen the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the governing body of European soccer will, have to endorse the TFF’s  decision. UEFA has yet to comment on the decision. 
UEFA warned earlier that it would intervene if the Turkish federation's disciplinary body failed to act before a June 1 deadline to register clubs for European competitions. It also barred Fenerbahce from this season's Champions League as a result of the investigation. It could now opt to extend
Fenerbahce’s ban as well as expand it to other prominent clubs implicated in the scandal such as Besiktas and Trabzonspor.

UEFA intervention would reflect poorly on Mr. Erdogan, further taint Turkey’s already damaged image and complicate its bid to host the 2020 European soccer championship. As a result, Trabzonspor president Sadri Sener was among the first to express concern about the potential fallout of the TFF decision.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge this week added fuel to the fire by warning that Istanbul would not be allowed to host both the European championship and the Olympics 2020. Mr. Rogge’s statement amounted to calling on UEFA president Michel Platini to delay awarding the soccer tournament to Turkey, the sole bidder, until after the IOC decides on the Olympic Games in September of next year.

The stakes for Messrs. Erdogan and Gulen are high: the hearts and minds of millions of Turkish soccer fans with the prime minister and Mr. Gulen focusing primarily on Fenerbahce, Turkey’s biggest and best supported club, whose imprisoned president, Aziz Yildirim, is among 93 soccer officials and players standing trial on match-fixing charges.  It was not immediately clear what impact the TFF decision would have on the proceedings of the court, which looked to the federation for guidance. Mr. Gulen is believed to want to see Mr. Yildirim convicted to pave the way for someone closer to his movement to be able to take control of the club.

The risks for Mr. Erdogan were evident as a video demanding that UEFA take action to ensure harsh penalties for those implicated in the match fixing scandal went viral on the Internet shortly after the TFF announced its decision. “Only UEFA can help us solve this problem, we can’t. If we could we wouldn’t be in this situation,” says a middle-aged soccer fan sitting in the video on the Bosporus as he signs a soccer ball alongside other from all walks of life. The ball is to be given to the European soccer body as a petition for intervention.

It is also politically sensitive because Mr. Gulen’s movement is Turkey’s foremost Islamic alliance and has supported Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). It operates schools, businesses, media, including major Turkish media, and NGOs across the globe, and is widely seen as having significant sway over Turkey’s police force. The Gulen movement has been instrumental in the rise of Turkey’s appeal across the Middle East, North Africa and in sub-Saharan Africa with its network often paving the way for Turkish diplomacy and business.
Followers of Mr. Gulen believe that Ergenekon, an allegedly clandestine, Kemalist ultra-nationalist organization representing Turkey’s deep state, benefitted financially from the match-fixing. Hundreds of people have been arrested, including senior military figures, in recent years on terrorism-related charges for their alleged involvement in Ergenekon, which the Turkish government denounces as a terrorist organization.

Mr. Erdogan defended the TFF decision earlier this week on the grounds that punishing institutions rather than individuals would amount to penalizing “millions of fans who set their hearts on these institutions.''

In announcing its decision, the federation banned striker Ibrahim Akin of Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyesi for three years for allegedly fixing the result of a game when his team last year lost to Fenerbahce. The TFF also banned Serdar Kulbilge of Genclerbirligi for two years for allegedly attempting to fix the result of a game that Fenerbahce won 4-2. The TFF said further that eight other people -- including Fenerbahce officials Mehmet Sekip Mosturoglu, Ilhan Yuksel Eksioglu, and Cemil Turhan – had been deprived of their rights, which means that they were barred from any administrative or sports activity, including the right to enter a stadium.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer, and a consultant to geopolitical consulting firm Wikistrat.

Interpreting Emerging Finance Capitalism in Turkey

by Thomas Marois

Centre for Policy Analysis and Research on Turkey, ResearchTurkey, London, UK

Turkey has been touted as one of the great ‘emerging market’ success stories. As the advanced capitalisms like the US... more Turkey has been touted as one of the great ‘emerging market’ success stories. As the advanced capitalisms like the US and UK sunk into the Great Recession, Turkey pulled out of crisis earning the moniker of a key ‘growth market’ in 2011 by Jim O’Neill, the chair of Goldman Sachs Asset Management who originated the term ‘BRIC’. Over the last decade Turkey’s GDP per capita has skyrocketed from about $8500 to about $14 000 as annual growth stayed in the range of 6-8 per cent. Yet such broad indicators often obscure underlying and growing inequality of income and power among social classes. The OECD ranks Turkey dead last in its social justice indicator. Inequality has increased faster in Turkey than in almost all other OECD member states. Turkey also has the lowest employment rate among member states at 44.3 per cent. While GDP growth appears rosy the average Turk made 21 per cent less on average in 2009 than in 2005.[1] By contrast the banks in Turkey have made record profits year after year, averaging more than double that in most other OECD countries. The balance of power between labour and capital has never been more imbalanced in favour of finance.

The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkish Parliamentary Debates (1992-1995): A Constructivist Approach

by Uluslararası İlişkiler

Didem Ekinci, " The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkish Parliamentary Debates (1992-1995): A Constructivist Approach ", Uluslararası İlişkiler, Cilt 6, Sayı 22 (Yaz), 2009

Ankara, bu yüzyılın sonuna doğru eski Yugoslavya’daki silahlı şiddet olaylarının bastırılmasına yönelik çabalara... more Ankara, bu yüzyılın sonuna doğru eski Yugoslavya’daki silahlı şiddet olaylarının bastırılmasına yönelik çabalara bütünüyle dâhil olmuşken, meydana gelebilecek olayları önceden görebilmiş, sürekli olarak derhal çok taraflı müdahale çağğısında bulunmuş ve Batı’daki konuya ilişkin müphem durumun aksine saldırgan ve mağdur ayrımına dair kararlı bir tutum sergilemiştir. Siyasi partilerin politikalarının temelinde Türkiye’nin Balkan mirası/kimliği, saldırganlığa karşı duruşu ve Balkan geçiş yollarının Türkiye için önemi bulunmaktaydı. Bu çalışma, üç zaman diliminde ele alınan meclis tartışmalarından elde edilen ayrıntılı ampirik verilerden yola çıkarak, inşacı çerçevede Türk ‘devleti’nin, kimliğinin, çıkarlarının ve karşılıklı öznelliklerinin hangi koşullarda işlediğini incelemektedir. Son olarak, Ankara’nın savaşa ilişkin dış politikasının, farklı siyasi geleneklerden gelen partilerin oluşturduğu koalisyon hükümetleri bulunmasına rağmen iyi hazırlanmış olduğu belirtilmektedir.

Think Tanks and Research Centers in Turkey

by sule toktas

co-authored with Bulent Aras; published at Bilig

National Security Culture in Turkey:
A Qualitative Study on Think Tanks
Şule Toktaş
Bülent Aras... more National Security Culture in Turkey:
A Qualitative Study on Think Tanks
Şule Toktaş
Bülent Aras
Abstract
This article examines the role that think tanks have played in the formulation of national security and a culture of security through field research conducted on fourteen think tanks located in Istanbul and Ankara. In addition to participant observation at the think tanks, twenty-five in-depth interviews were conducted with administrators and specialists. The findings revealed that, in terms of their strategic attitudes about national security in Turkey, there are three groups of think tanks: critical think tanks; b) middle-position think tanks; and c) congruent think tanks. Based on the results of the data collected, we argue that the culture of national security in Turkey has begun to be impacted by a plurality of actors, both civilian and official, and that there is an emerging competition for influence over the definitions and conceptualizations of security as well as the identification of security issues within a securitization process which has led to their securitization. Although the think-tank sector in Turkey is still in its formative years, its roles and influence in the debates on national security have been on the rise.
Keywords
Think-tank, securitization, Turkey, national security, research center, security studies.

What Went Wrong with Kemalism?

by Şakir Dinçşahin

published in 'http://researchturkey.org', April 16, 2012.

Student’s Perceptions of Time Management and Deadlines: A Special Challenge in E-Learning-based Cross-Cultural Education

by Thomas Richter

Richter, T. (2012). Students’ Perceptions of Time Management and Deadlines: A Special Challenge in E-Learning-based Cross-Cultural Education. In: Proceedings of the World Conference on Educational Mul-timedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2012, Chesapeake, VA: AACE. (forthcoming in June 2012)

This paper addresses the students’ cultural understanding of time management. In our study, which was conducted... more This paper addresses the students’ cultural understanding of time management. In our study, which was conducted between 2010 and 2012 and mainly took place in the academic context of Germany and South Korea, we found out that the students’ perception of time management is strongly related to their culture. When edu-cation takes place in cross-cultural settings, which related to Internet-based education in future will be the stan-dard-setting, this particular difference can lead to major frustration as well for the learners as also for the educa-tors. Particularly in the e-Learning scenario, where learners rarely communicate upcoming conflicts, and where ongoing motivation needs to be understood as a crucial condition to succeed (Richter & Adelsberger, 2011a, p.1600), this issue needs to be targeted. In this paper, after introducing the relevant theoretical background, we first present our study setting and finally discuss the results.

European Union’s Multilateralism on Trade Policies, Custom Unions and Free Trade Agreements; Comparative SWOT Analyses of Turkey and South Korea’s Automotive Industries

by Murat Ustaoğlu

Co-authored with Ahmet İncekara

The foreign trade policies of the states may vary depending on the circumstances in the globalizing world economy. The... more The foreign trade policies of the states may vary depending on the circumstances in the globalizing world economy. The states which seek to take advantage of the global economy by increasing the size of the foreign trade volume create regional and non-regional trade blocs. The European Union (EU), in consideration of the political and economic developments in respect to the Customs Union that it had paid attention to in the 1990s, revised its trade liberalization policies and moved from the CU to the free trade agreements (FTA). The change in the trade policies in the EU concerns developing economies including Turkey and South Korea. The automotive sector is the sixth largest sector in the world. This industry is one of the most important export areas of developing countries like Turkey and South Korea which seek to improve their welfare by adopting export-based development model. In 1996, Turkey made a trade liberalization agreement with the EU, and South Korea in 2010, to reduce the tariff rates in the field of industrial products. For both countries, the level of influence upon the exports in automotive sectors by the trade liberalization policies holds great importance for the future of the national economies. This study wants to offer some SWOT analyses pf the agreements signed with the EU on the automotive sectors of the two countries.

MAPPING DIGITAL MEDIA: TURKEY

by Vehbi Gorgulu

Tunc, A. & Gorgulu, V. (2012). Mapping Digital Media: Turkey. Open Society Foundation, London.

The Mapping Digital Media project examines the global opportunities and risks created by the transition from... more The Mapping Digital Media project examines the global opportunities and risks created by the transition from traditional to digital media. Covering 60 countries, the project examines how these changes affect the core democratic service that any media system should provide: news about political, economic, and social affairs.

This report calls for a host of measures aimed at depoliticizing the policy process with respect to digitization, strengthening legislative protections against digital censorship, and enhancing the transparency and accountability of regulatory institutions.