Do refugees impact voting behavior in the host country? Evidence from Syrian refugee inflows to Turkey

Public Choice - We study how individual political preferences changed in response to the influx of over 3.5 million Syrian refugees to Turkey during 2012–2016. Using a...     

Homemade Heavy Caliber Rifles—Two Unusual Firearms

Historically, in crimes involving heavy caliber rifles, only conventional factory‐made versions have been used. However, in recent years the number of homemade long‐barreled rifles is increasing. The characteristics of two such firearms that have been submitted to the Turkish Criminal Laboratory are discussed here. When the main parts of the guns were examined in detail, it was noted that nearly all of the parts had been made carelessly, with several structural defects visible. It was determined that the homemade heavy caliber rifles were unfit for efficient use and it was possible that they could have seriously harmed the shooter had they been fired. The development of these kinds of gun and the possibility of their use spreading throughout the country in terrorist attacks could cause a serious threat to national security.     

Limits to temporary protection: non-camp Syrian refugees in İzmir,Turkey

This article investigates the situation of non-camp Syrian refugees living in ?zmir with a focus on socio-economic prospects and challenges concerning their survival and integration on the one hand and social acceptance by the host Turkish society on the other. The data were generated by semi-structured interviews conducted between February and April 2014 with non-camp Syrian refugees and Turkish citizens living in ?zmir. The empirical research intends to contribute to the literature through insights on the socio-economic conditions of non-camp Syrians, their level of integration to Turkish society, difficulties and challenges encountered and the perception of Turkish citizens about the rising Syrian population in Turkey. It argues that Turkey’s open-border and ‘temporary protection’ policies are approaching their limits with the increasing number of new arrivals and the concomitant difficulties faced in integrating into Turkish society. The paper suggests that there is an urgent need to create a ‘rights-based approach’ with a long-term integration policy and presents policy recommendations which aim to extend and secure the rights of Syrians through socio-economic adjustments without jeopardizing their social acceptance from and peaceful co-existence with Turkish citizens.     

Europeanisation or De-Europeanisation? Media Freedom in Turkey (1999–2015)

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has successfully been exercising its transformative power through both its enlargement and its neighbourhood policies for decades. Nonetheless, transformation towards a more European model of governance through Europeanisation is not a linear process, but a differentiated one. Adverse consequences for Europeanisation (i.e. de-Europeanisation) have often been neglected. The case of media freedom in Turkey, with a deteriorating trend across time, exemplifies such an outcome. This article explores media freedom in Turkey in the last decade. It argues that media reforms have been reversed over time in a de-Europeanising trend, with the EU losing its position as a reference point for reforms.     

Political discourses on Europe and European integration in national election manifestos and party programmes

Through a textual analysis of national election manifestos, this paper critically discusses political parties' discourses towards Europe and European integration in three European Union (EU) member states: Germany, which has always promoted further integration; the United Kingdom, which has consistently been a keen supporter of intergovernmentalism; and finally the Netherlands, one of the original six and a willing, yet cautious, supporter of supranational cooperation. By analysing how political parties frame European integration in their discourses, we aim to investigate the variance in national political cultures with respect to identity and self-identification with Europe as a determining factor of support for the process. This paper concludes that although European integration is structured around a framework of interests in all the six party discourses under analysis, the construction of national identities and hence the articulation of national interest in EU membership as well as the visions for the political structure of the union varies significantly.     

Back to a Predominant Party System: The November 2015 Snap Election in Turkey

Abstract

Turkey’s snap parliamentary election in November 2015 took place in an environment of growing political violence and terrorism resulting from the renewal of the Kurdish conflict in the southeast and two major suicide bombings carried out by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Presenting the coalition arithmetic, the article first examines the failure to form a government after the previous election five months earlier. It then examines the campaign for the November election, including party strategies, key issues and the role of the media, before analysing the results and the election winners and losers. In restoring a parliamentary majority for the Adalet ve Kalk?nma Partisi (Justice and Development Party – AKP) that has governed Turkey continuously for the past 13 years, the November election marked the basic continuity of Turkey’s predominant party system.     

Victimization, Parenting, and Externalizing Behavior Among Latino and White Adolescents

Given the large number of adolescents who have externalizing behavior problems and the increasing ethnic heterogeneity in many societies, it is important to examine whether the mechanisms underlying externalizing behavior are different among diverse groups. We specified separate models for ethnic groups and tested whether gender moderated the effect of victimization experiences and parent–child characteristics on externalizing behavior. The sample included 167 Latino and 625 White adolescents ages 10–17. For Latino adolescents, parental physical assault was related to more externalizing behavior for males and for females. More parental conflict and more criticism were related to less externalizing behavior for Latino females but not for Latino males. For White adolescents, all types of victimization (by parents, by siblings, by peers, witnessing domestic assault) and more parental conflict were related to more externalizing for males and for females. More monitoring was related to less externalizing behavior for White males but not for White females or for Latino adolescents. The intersection of ethnicity and gender may be important when examining adolescents’ externalizing behavior.     

Solving Double‐Sided Puzzles: Automated Assembly of Torn‐up Banknotes Evidence

Reconstruction of 2D object is a problem concerning many different fields such as forensics science, archiving, and banking. In the literature, it is considered as one‐sided puzzle problem. But this study handles torn banknotes as a double‐sided puzzle problem for the first time. In addition to that, a new dataset (ToB) is created for solving this problem. A selection approach based on the Borda count method is adopted in order to make the right decision as to which keypoint‐based method is to be used in the proposed reconstruction system. The selection approach was determined the Accelerated‐KAZE (AKAZE) as the most successful keypoint‐based method. This study also proposes new measures determining the success ratio of the reconstructed banknotes and calculating their loss ratio. When the torn banknotes were reconstructed with the AKAZE‐based reconstruction system, the average success rate was calculated as 95.55% by the proposed metric.     

Intellectual property law and practice in the blockchain realm

Blockchain technology is claimed to be and perceived as one of the revolutionary technologies that will have an enormous impact on our lives in the forthcoming years and decades. The legal questions surrounding blockchain appear to be among the most controversial issues surrounding this novel technology, which create uncertainties as to the scope and speed of its eventual adoption. Is it legal to use blockchain technology? Does or should any governmental authority or court take a record stored in blockchain into consideration in their decisions? Is blockchain reliable? Can the technology be used for the protection and enforcement of legal and property rights?The technological advancements offered by blockchain promise wide ranges of use in a variety of sectors and legal areas, including intellectual property (IP) law. This paper will focus primarily on the possible opportunities that blockchain may offer with respect to the future of IP law and discuss its potential impact on the registration, management and enforcement of intellectual property rights. We will proceed to offer blockchain-based solutions to foster the operation of IP offices, reinforce customs procedures in detecting counterfeit products, and enhance the efficiency of IP rights management by the right holders. The paper concludes by providing some suggestions to pave the way for the advancement of blockchain technology and to increase the number of people that this technology reaches, as well as its successful integration into the various services and registration/transaction channels that we use today.     

Productivity slowdown and misallocation in the post-recession: What prevents recovery?

This study explores the effects of the 2008 global economic crisis on the labor allocation and productivity in Luxembourg. The analysis is based on firm-level data from manufacturing and non-financial service sectors and finds a dramatic productivity slowdown after 2008. The study reveals that the cleansing effect of recession did not function effectively which would otherwise improve the efficiency in the labor allocation and counterbalance the productivity slowdown. The firm entry and job creation rates are lower in the post-crisis period, but the job destruction is not significantly altered by the crisis. The findings call attention for the strict employment protection legislation that possibly plays a role in preventing reallocation towards more efficient establishments. Relaxing the employment protection legislation simultaneously with facilitating the entry and growth of young firms is expected to promote creative destruction, improve allocative efficiency and speed up the post-crisis recovery.