Institutional oppression and neo-liberalism in Turkey

Cam, Surhan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5524-0429 2006. Institutional oppression and neo-liberalism in Turkey. [Working Paper]. School of Social Sciences Working Papers Series, vol. 81. Cardiff: Cardiff University.

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Abstract

In October 2005, the EU has formally started accession talks with Turkey whilst indicating that the progress of negotiations is dependent on the advancement of pro-democracy reforms in the country. The Turkish military defies this call in favour of its heavy influence in politics which is consolidated since September 11 for bordering the oil-rich nations of Muslim and Turkic ‘brothers’ as a NATO ally. However, the army’s strong position in the domestic setting is largely maintained by the historical and structural challenges of neoliberal policies in Turkey to the economic foundations of democracy. In order to implement a neo-liberal programme dating back to the 1970s, an uneasy but considerable democratisation process was replaced with what is called in this paper ‘institutional oppression’ led by the military. Since then, the fundamental promise of the official rhetoric of ‘catching the level of contemporary civilisations’ has lost its direction in political terms. At the expense of democratic ideals, institutional oppression sustains one of the world’s largest ‘emerging market’ economies in Turkey and, not least for this reason, appeals to the hegemonic powers of globalisation as a ‘role model of democracy’ to be promoted in all Muslim and Turkic countries. Bearing all these issues in mind, the present study is devoted to a historical analysis of institutional oppression and its relation to the neo-liberal project in Turkey.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Publisher:	Cardiff University
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	28 Oct 2022 10:24
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/78152

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