Turkey’s Quest for Strengthening its Democratic and Social Model Amidst Difficult Neighbours of the Cold War Years

Öz

Turkey has been trying to increase its democratic and social standards for quite a long time. In this endeavour, the gradually constructed fight in the society between secular republicanism and conservative communitarianism slowed down the country’s pace. This paper argues that this division in the society has been mostly a consequence of the country’s positioning at the battlefront during the Cold War years. As a result, Turkey has evolved towards a unique modernisation example, where the “civilianisation” of the excessively institutionalized modernist state structures (generally leaning towards authoritarianism) and the “institutionalisation” of the existent Oriental- Mediterranean-Religious societal solidarity through the rule of law and welfare state policies, have remained greatly limited. This constructed division in the Turkish society between the modernists and the traditionalists, the country’s surrounding neighbours’ highly volatile political and economic situation, and the country’s positioning in the borderline of the global bi-polar politics of the Cold War years, kept Turkey as a highly security oriented state. Additionally, the lacking/fluctuating European support (particularly, Europe’s highly hesitant steps with regards to Turkey’s integration with the EU) has also played a key role in the limited democratic and social transformation of the country. In this context, this paper will analyse the reasons of the democratic and social welfare deficit in the country by mainly focusing on the impact of the Cold-War years on its model and the ‘high politics’ manoeuvres of its neighbours (influenced either from the USA and the USSR) during that period.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Turkey,Democratisation-Civilianisation,Welfare State,Cold-War Neighbours,European Union

Soğuk Savaş Yıllarının Zorlu Komşuları Arasında Türkiye’nin Demokrasisini ve Sosyal Modelini Güçlendirme Serüveni

Öz

Türkiye uzun yıllardır demokratik ve sosyal standartlarını geliştirmeye çalışmaktadır. Bu süreçte toplumda zaman içinde inşa edilen seküler cumhuriyetçilik ile muhafazakâr cemaatçilik arasındaki kavga süreci ülkenin hızını oldukça yavaşlatmıştır. Bu makale, toplumdaki bu bölünmenin özellikle Soğuk Savaş yıllarında ülkenin iki kutup arasındaki kavganın tam ortasında kalması nedeniyle ortaya çıktığını öne sürmektedir. Bunun sonucu olarak Türkiye, nadir bir modernleşme örneği şeklinde gelişmiş ve ülkedeki fazlasıyla kurumsallaşmış modernist devlet yapılarının ‘sivilleşmesi’ (çoğunlukla otoritaryanizme kayan) ile mevcut Oryantal-Akdeniz Kültürü-Din merkezli toplumsal dayanışmanın ‘kurumsallaşması’ oldukça yetersiz kalmıştır. Türk toplumunda zaman içinde inşa edilen modernistler ve gelenekçiler arasındaki bölünme, ülkenin çevresindeki komşularının oldukça inişli çıkışlı iktisadi ve siyasi durumları ve ülkenin Soğuk Savaş yıllarının çift kutuplu küresel politikalarının tam sınırında yer alması, Türkiye’nin çoğunlukla güvenlik politikaları merkezli bir ülke olarak kalması sonucunu doğurmuştur. Ayrıca, ülkeye verilen oldukça yetersiz ve sürekli değişken Avrupa desteği (özellikle, Avrupa’nın Türkiye’nin AB üyeliği çerçevesinde oldukça çekingen kalması) ülkenin kısıtlı demokratik ve sosyal dönüşümünde kilit rol oynamıştır. Bu çerçevede, bu makale, Türkiye’deki demokrasi ve sosyal devletle ilgili açıklar üzerinde durmakta, özellikle de söz konusu açıkların ortaya çıkmasında ülkenin Soğuk Savaş yıllarındaki komşularının ‘yüksek siyaset’ manevralarının (çoğunlukla ABD ya da SSCB’den etkilenen) etkisi üzerine yoğunlaşmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Türkiye,Demokratikleşme-Sivilleşme,Sosyal Devlet,Soğuk Savaş Komşuları,Avrupa Birliği

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