WHAT SELF-DETERMINATION MEANS FOR INTERNATIONAL POLITICS? COMPARISON OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA AND KOSOVO CASES

Öz

Self-determination has been one of the controversial topics in the field of international politics since it emerged after the 1st World War with the declaration of the Wilson Principles.  Especially when the cold war era finished with the fall of Berlin Wall, Soviet Union collapsed and Yugoslavia broke up; self-determination has been taken an important place for the ethnic groups and nations to declare independence and build up their own independent states. Beside the importance of self-determination for the groups which are seeking a tool for independence, it might also become a tool for global actors to maintain their strategies and use it as a card in the international political game against each other.

Subject of study is that the global actors such as USA, Russia and the EU are not having clear standpoint on the right of self-determination and the positions of international or global actors differs according to cases which provides chance to use the self-determination issue against each other in order to maintain their interests. Since the topic is large and needed to have a great deal knowledge of the international law discipline to examine, it has decided to make it more specific by analyzing two cases; independence of Kosovo and the secession claims of BİH’s Republika Srpska. Prima facie, these issues can be perceived as incomparable but both of them emerged after the breakup of Yugoslavia one of which lasts with independence and the other one become a sub-state within the state. As introduction I will try to concentrate on the definition of the self-determination and its implementation in the international law to provide a basis for brief analysis of two cases. Afterwards I will try to examine stands of the different global powers or international actors; namely the US, Russia and the EU towards both cases and their interpretations of the international law according to maintain self-interests.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Self-Determination,İnternational Politics,İnternational Law,Kosovo,Republika Srpska,EU,Russia

ULUSLARARASI POLİTİKADA SELF-DETERMİNASYON NE ANLAMA GELİYOR? REPUBLİKA SRPSKA VE KOSOVA VAKALARININ KARŞILAŞTIRILMASI

Öz

Birinci Dünya savaşından sonra Wilson Prensiplerinin açıklanmasından itibaren Uluslararası Politikanın tartışmalı konularından birisi  Self-Determinasyon olmuştur. Özellikle Berlin Duvarı’nın çökmesiyle Soğuk Savaş’ın sona ermesi, Sovyetlerin dağılması, Yugoslavya’nın parçalanması ve etnik grup ve milletlerin bağımsızlık ilan ederek kendi bağımsız devletlerini kurmaları self-determinasyon kavramının önem kazanmasına sebep oldu. Self-Determinasyonun bağımsızlık arayışı içerisinde olan gruplar açısından öneminin dışında, bu kavram uluslararası politikada kendi stratejilerini oluşturan ve sürdüren küresel aktörlerin kullanımına açık bir araç haline gelmiştir.

Bu çalışmanın konusu ABD, Rusya, Avrupa Birliği gibi küresel ve bölgesel aktörlerin self-determinasyon hususunda net bir duruşa sahip olmadıkları ve self-determinasyonu değişik şekillerde yorumlayarak kendi çıkarlarını korudukları veya bu kavramı birbirlerine karşı koz olarak kullandıklarıdır. Konu yeterince geniş ve ciddi manada uluslararası hukuk bilgisi gerektirdiği için bu makalede iki spesifik olayın incelemesini yapılacaktır; Kosova’nın bağımsızlığı ve Republika Srpska’nın Bosna Hersek’ten ayrılma iddiaları incelenecektir. İlk bakışta bu iki konu karşılaştırılamaz görülebilir ancak her durum da Yugoslavya’nın dağılması ile ortaya çıkmış ve birisi bağımsızlık ile sonuçlanırken diğeri devlet içerisinde alt-devlet olarak oluşturmuştur. Giriş kısmında self-determinasyonun tanımını ve uluslararası hukuktaki uygulama alanına odaklanılarak her iki vaka için bir anlaşılırlık zemini oluşturacaktır. Devamında ise ABD, Rusya, Avrupa Birliği gibi her iki vakayla da yakından ilgilenen farklı bölgesel ve küresel aktörlerin bu iki vakaya yönelik uluslararası hukuku yorumlama şekillerini ve böylelikle kendi çıkarlarını koruma çabaları incelenecektir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Republika Srpska,Self-Determinasyon,Uluslararası Politika,Uluslararası Hukuk,kosova,Republika Srpska,AB,Rusya

Kaynakça

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