Turkey’s Terror Problem - Turkish counterterrorism and its degrading state of democracy
Author
Dudenhöffer, Martin Claus
Term
4. term
Publication year
2017
Pages
68
Abstract
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan Tyrkiets modforanstaltninger mod terror siden 2015 hænger sammen med landets demokratiske udvikling. Udgangspunktet er en periode præget af hyppige angreb fra PKK og ISIS, en tiltagende kurdisk konflikt, det mislykkede kupforsøg i juli 2016 og folkeafstemningen i april 2017. Med afsæt i teorier om terror og modterror (Kydd, Walter, Kiras), illiberal demokrati (Zakaria), autoritarisme (Linz) og beslutningstagning (Most og Starr) analyserer studiet antiterrorlovgivning og regeringsstrategier samt deres betydning for valg og pluralisme, borgerrettigheder, retsstat og magtadskillelse. Analysen peger på, at en bred og politiseret brug af terrorbegrebet har legitimeret omfattende udrensninger, indskrænkninger i ytrings-, forsamlings- og foreningsfrihed, pres på domstolenes uafhængighed og en koncentration af magt i præsidentembedet. De meget forskellige trusler fra PKK, ISIS og Hizmet er i høj grad blevet behandlet ens, hvilket har svækket retsstatlige garantier, mens reaktionen over for islamistiske ekstremister til tider har virket inkonsekvent. Samlet set argumenterer specialet for, at Tyrkiets antiterrorpolitik siden 2015 har fremskyndet en de-demokratisering og bevæget landet i retning af et mere illiberalt, præsidentielt styre.
This thesis examines how Turkey’s counterterrorism responses since 2015 relate to the country’s democratic development. It focuses on a period marked by frequent attacks by PKK and ISIS, an intensifying Kurdish conflict, the failed coup in July 2016, and the April 2017 constitutional referendum. Drawing on theories of terrorism and counterterrorism (Kydd, Walter, Kiras), illiberal democracy (Zakaria), authoritarianism (Linz), and decision-making (Most and Starr), the study analyzes anti-terror legislation and government strategies and assesses their effects on elections and pluralism, civil rights, the rule of law, and the separation of powers. The analysis indicates that a broad and politicized use of the term terrorism has legitimated sweeping purges, restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, and association, pressure on judicial independence, and the centralization of power in the presidency. Diverse threats from PKK, ISIS, and the Hizmet movement have largely been treated alike, weakening legal safeguards, while responses to Islamist extremists have at times appeared inconsistent. Overall, the thesis argues that Turkey’s counterterrorism approach since 2015 has accelerated de-democratization and moved the country toward a more illiberal, presidential form of governance.
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