Minority Rights in Turkey: Analysis of the Impact of Europeanization
Abstract
This research tries to identify how, and to what extent, engagement with the European Union
(EU) changes the political behavior of civil society actors and minority groups in Turkey. It is
argued that the EU assistance changes the availability of political and financial resources for
minority civil society organizations in Turkey, which is a critical component of
Europeanization and constitutes a significant test for the EU’s enlargement strategy. The key
objective is to identify how, and to what extent, engagement with the EU changes the political
behavior of civil society actors and minority groups in Turkey. It examines the fluctuations in
the level of civil society activism in Turkey among minority organizations and consider the
extent to which the interaction with the EU explains the variation in their political efficacy
through the availability of different financial, political and human resources. In a broader
context, this thesis will contribute to the general research on Europeanization by elaborating
on the transformative impact of the EU on civil society activism. To achieve this, this research
employed a mixed methodology. Surveys were conducted with civil society organizations
representing twenty-three different ethnic, linguistic and religious minority groups. In addition,
semi-structured interviews were conducted with different actors representing the minority
groups in question. In conclusion the results showed that the Europeanization process allowed
EU actors to promote EU ideas, norms and standards in their interactions with civil society
organizations causing a differential empowerment of these organizations. It also demonstrated
that empowering civil society organizations through capacity-building mechanisms and
political dialogue triggered the mobilization of civil society organizations in Turkey, however
their empowerment is still contingent upon a number of other factors. While situating itself
within the existing literature that tries to explain the effects of international institutions and
norms on civil society organizations, this thesis shows that unlike other external actors, the EU
strengthened the civil society activism in Turkey particularly in a contentious area such as minority rights and in the presence of resistant political elites. In return, these actors were able
to represent themselves in other national and international platforms, which yielded increased
political efficacy.
Authors
Ak, Ceren ZeynepCollections
- Theses [3705]