Democracy Anchored in the Presidential System: The ‘‘Solution Process’’, Constitution Making and the Future of Europeanization in Turkey

Year 2012, Issue: 43, 159 - 196, 01.05.2012

Özlem Kaygusuz

https://doi.org/10.1501/Intrel_0000000282

Abstract

Democracy Anchored in the Presidential System: The ‘‘Solution Process’’, Constitution Making and the Future of Europeanization in Turkey

Abstract

Since the beginning of 2013, the efforts to re-open the accession negotiations between Turkey and the EU have coincided with two important democratization processes, i.e., the solution of the Kurdish Issue and the termination of the 1982 Constitution. After the suspension of the accession negotiations in December 2006, Turkey seemed to distance itself from the EU and the process of the Europeanization of Turkey’s political system came to de facto halt. The article analyzes the recent democratization moves in this respect and argues that the ruling party’s objective of system change, that is the project of presidential system rather than Europeanization has seemed to guide the recent reform moves in Turkey

Keywords

Turkey, Europeanization, Kurdish Question, democratization, constitution making