The Nation and its Sermons: Islam,Kemalism and the Presidency of Religious Affairs in Turkey

This article will attempt to develop an in-depth examination of the pivotal role of Islam in the articulation of Turkish nationalism and Turkish official identity by examining the sermons authorized and imposed by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (PRA), the state agency regulating religion, and how the their cosmologies of social, moral and political order are entwined. We will further argue that this role involves a twofold process; firstly, the Muslim identity was imagined as a prerequisite for being considered as a Turk and a Turkish citizen and, secondly, the ‘cultural intimacy’ of Turkish nationalism is grounded on the ‘root paradigms’ inherited and attained from the Islamic tradition and theology. These arguments are particularly pertinent at a time when Islamist JDP (Justice and Development Party) consolidated its power and began to instrumentalize PRA for its priorities and visions of Islam. This, however, does not bring a radical reshuffling of PRA. On the contrary, the continuity from the Kemalist-monitored PRA to the JDP-monitored PRA can be attested not only in its organizational features but also in its ideological make up; especially in terms of its perceptions of society, state and social order.     

A systematic literature review on accelerators

The Journal of Technology Transfer - Over the past 15 years, accelerators emerged as a popular and distinct new form of intermediary organization, playing a key role in supporting...     

亚洲区域合作的路径竞争及中国的战略选择

亚洲区域合作虽然被认为存在巨大潜在收益,但由于种种原因,在战后很长时间里一直未能取得实质性进展。1997年亚洲金融危机之后,亚洲合作开始在以东盟为中心的10+框架下推进,但很快就形成了10+3和10+6之间的路径争夺。从相关各方的利益考虑出发,本文认为,亚洲区域合作不同路径的竞争包含亚洲与非亚洲的利益争夺和中日之间关于主导权的竞争两个方面;同时东盟对自身地位的关注也在其中发挥着作用。结合这一判断以及对中国区域合作利益诉求的分析,本文对未来中国推动区域合作的战略提出了初步的建议。     

Determination of Calliphoridae (Diptera) Fauna and Seasonal Distribution on Carrion in Ankara Province*

Abstract: This study was conducted from March 2006 to 2007. The aim of the study was to determine the forensically significant Calliphoridae (Diptera) species and their seasonal distribution in Ankara province at Beytepe Campus. Pig carcasses were killed by a veterinary using pentobarbital sodium with intervals from 2 to 3 weeks to a month. Samples were collected from the carcass everyday in the morning, in the afternoon, and at sunset. Temperature and parameters of weather, such as cloudy, sunny, rainy, and snowy, were recorded at each visit. Phaenicia sericata (Meigen), Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann), Calliphora vomitoria (Linnaeus), and Calliphora vicina (Robineau‐Desvoidy) species, which belong to Calliphoridae family, were collected. It was shown that the seasonal distribution of the collected species was different from each other. The species were determined on carcass between the following times; P. sericata, from April to November; C. albiceps, from May to November; Ca. vomitoria, from February to June and from September to December; and Ca. vicina, from February to May and in June and September. Calliphoridae fauna and its annual seasonal distribution in Turkey on 12 pig carcasses were reported for the first time in this study.     

Great effort,little help? Peace and conflict resolution organisations in Northern Ireland and Turkey

This article offers a comparative analysis of the role played by peace and conflict resolution organisations (P/CROs) in Northern Ireland and Turkey in negotiating solutions to ethno-nationalist conflicts in these countries. It argues that P/CROs have been instrumental in de-escalating violence and encouraging conflicting parties to resolve conflict peacefully. Examining both the elite and grass-roots levels, the article assesses P/CROs that have advanced middle-range approaches and track-two dialogue towards peace. Drawing on data from multiple sources, including semi-structured interviews, archival material and official documents, the analysis indicates that P/CROs have a range of tools at their disposal to influence political decision-makers. These include public (and closed) conferences, forums and events attended by current or former politicians, representatives of the conflicting parties and prominent figures and intellectuals in the conflict-affected society, as well as other grass-roots initiatives. The article finds that P/CROs provided help shaping and promoting non-violent processes of conflict resolution between the British Government and the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and the Turkish Government and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).     

Turkish Nationhood: Civic and Ancestral and Cultural

This article challenges two established views in the literature on Turkish nationalism. First, that Turkish nationhood in the early republican era was civic and ethnic and, second, that, while Turkish nationhood was inclusive and egalitarian in constitutional texts, in the early years of the Turkish Republic and in the case of Turkish citizens of Muslim origin, it became exclusive or discriminatory in citizenship practices once the Republic was consolidated and in the case of non-Muslim Turkish citizens. Contra these two established views, I first argue that Turkish nationhood was not civic and ethnic, but it was actually civic and ancestral and cultural. Secondly, relying on an examination of legal texts produced and citizenship practices pursued in the years between 1918 and 1924, I argue that the Turkish nationhood was exclusive and discriminatory both theoretically and practically, on paper as well as in practice, both at the time of the foundation of the republic and once the regime had become consolidated.     

Presidents Shaping Public Opinion in Parliamentary Democracies: A Survey Experiment in Turkey

Many parliamentary democracies feature a president alongside a prime minister. While these presidents have a nonpartisan status as head of state, they often have had long political careers with partisan affiliations before assuming office. How do voters react when such actors make issue statements to shape public opinion? Are such statements filtered through voters’ partisan lenses, provoked by the partisan background of these actors? Or perhaps partisan reactions are not invoked, owing to the nonpartisan status of the office? We argue that voters’ reactions depend on the issue domain. Partisan reactions will be invoked only when the statements are about issues outside the president’s prerogatives. We provide evidence for our argument from a population-based survey experiment in Turkey.     

The National Research Council’s Rankings of Doctoral Programs in Public Affairs

Using the National Research Council (NRC) data, this study aimed to answer two questions: What are the factors that contributed the most to the rankings of public affairs programs? Are there more specific patterns in the rankings of the doctoral programs in public affairs? The results indicate that faculty research productivity is the most important predictor of the rankings of the doctoral programs in the NRC dataset. The results of cluster analyses show that there are programs at large public universities, which are ranked highly and have highly diverse faculty and students.     

Party competition in the Middle East: spatial competition in the post-Arab Spring era

This paper charts the nature of political cleavage between major parties in post-Arab Spring elections in five Mediterranean region countries, with data from online opt-in surveys. We compare the Moroccan elections, held under a consolidated authoritarian regime, with the transitional cases of Tunisia and Egypt as well as the more mature democracies of Turkey and Israel. Voter opinions are obtained on 30 salient issues, and parties and voters are aligned along two dimensions. We trace country-specific cleavage patterns and reflections of party system maturity in these five countries. The cases of Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco reveal that in less settled cleavage structures there is little congruence between vote propensities for parties and agreement levels with policy positions compared to the more institutionalized democracies of Israel and Turkey where voters exhibit a higher likelihood to vote for a party as the distance between the voter and the party in the policy space gets smaller.