Politics of Constituency Representation and Legislative Ambition under the Glare of Camera Lights

The introduction of legislative television as a transparency initiative has been welcomed in an increasing number of democracies. The impact of television cameras on parliamentary behavior, however, has received scant attention in systems where personal vote-earning attributes are thought to be of little importance (e.g., closed-list proportional representation). Additionally, studies examining this relationship relied exclusively on over-time variation in legislative behavior (i.e., before and after the introduction of television into parliament), which arguably has important deficiencies in demonstrating the true effect of legislative television. Capitalizing on a unique quasi-experimental setting, the present study aims to close these gaps in the literature by analyzing parliamentary activities in Turkey, where the legislative television was restricted to 3 days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) in 2011 after almost two decades of continuous 7-day operation. Results based on original data sets of parliamentary activities from the pre- and postreform periods (2009–11 and 2011–13) indicate that the varying presence of television cameras exacerbated the effect of electoral and reputation-building motivations on parliamentary behavior, encouraging electorally unsafe and junior MPs to shift their constituency focus to the televised proceedings. The results offer important implications for the study of legislative transparency and constituency representation in party-list proportional representation systems.     

Perspectives on Ethno-National Conflict Among Kurdish Families With Members in the PKK

This article reports the findings of an ethnographic study of families with members involved in the armed struggle for Kurdish nationalism led by the Kurdistan Workers' Party. Based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews and observations with a theoretical sample of six families in the area of Yüksekova, detailed discussions were held with twelve members of families with children, partners, or siblings involved in the conflict. Ethno-national exceptionalism plays a significant role in determining the motivations of political violence among groups, but with the additional background of the perceptions and realities of systematic racialization, de-territorialization, disenfranchisement, and cultural exclusion that affect certain Kurdish groups. The findings in this article offer critical sociological and anthropological accounts of the localized drivers of ethno-nationalism, and the motivations for and the experiences of conflict among families with members involved in the armed conflict and the “Kurdish question” in Turkey.     

The Impact of Military Interventions on the Integration of Muslim Immigrants in Western Countries, 1990–2013

While there is an indication that some democratic institutions and public policies have been effective in integrating ethnic minorities, social classes and immigrants in Western countries, recent studies show that they have not succeeded equally in incorporating Muslim immigrants. This difference begs the question of what particular circumstances are required for Muslim integration in the West. This article uses the level of violence between Muslim immigrants and host societies as an indication of their social cohesion or lack thereof. Conducting a quantitative analysis of 16 Western countries for the period 1990–2013, we find that militarised interstate disputes between Western states and predominantly Muslim countries substantially increase the likelihood of violence between Muslim immigrants and the respective host societies. Multicultural policies and consensual political systems mitigate these adverse effects. This study demonstrates a continued utility of democratic institutions and public policies towards promoting social cohesion, especially when the host states are engaged in military action in Muslim countries.     

Moderate Islam and secularist opposition in Turkey: implications for the world,Muslims and secular democracy

Developing an argument based in theories of democratic consolidation and religious competition, and discussing the reasons for the secularist opposition to the government, this article analyses how government by a party rooted in moderate Islamism may affect Turkey's peculiar secular democracy, development and external relations and how Muslims in the world relate to modernization and democracy. Arguing that secularism in advanced democracies may be a product of democracy as much as it is the other way around, the article maintains that democratic consolidation may secure further consolidation of Turkish secularism and sustainable moderation of Turkish political Islam. Besides democratic Islamic – conservative actors and other factors, democratic consolidation requires strong democratic – secularist political parties so that secularist and moderate Islamist civilian actors check and balance each other. Otherwise, middle class value divisions and mistrust in areas like education and social regulation may jeopardise democratisation and economic modernisation and continuing reconciliation of Islamism with secular democracy and modernity.     

Foreigners Dying in Istanbul

Abstract:  The study included 411 deaths selected from 14,647 medicolegal deaths autopsied in the Morgue Department of Forensic Medicine Institute Directorate, affiliated with the Ministry of Justice, between 1998 and 2002. Data were collected from court documents, coroner's investigation reports, and autopsy reports. The parameters of age, gender, nationality and origin, cause and place of death in foreigners dying in Istanbul were evaluated in the study. Out of 14,647 medicolegal deaths, 3.5% were foreigners from 34 different nationalities. The nationality with the highest rate of foreigner deaths (34%) was Romanian. Out of 411 deaths, 74.3% were male and 25.7% were female. Of all cases, 64.4% were tourists visiting Istanbul and 35.6% had a job in Istanbul. Of 146 foreigners employed in Istanbul, 94.5% did not have a work permit, while only 5.5% had a work permit.     

Turkey, Water and the Middle East: Some Issues Lying Ahead

This article analyzes cross-border water disputes in Mesopotamiathat involve Turkey, Iraq and Syria. It focuses on the SoutheasternAnatolia Project (Turkish: Güneydou Anadolu Projesi (GAP))that is being undertaken by various administrations of the governmentof the Republic of Turkey in the last few decades and triesto shed light on some important legal issues surrounding it.On 3 October 2005, Turkey began negotiations with the EuropeanUnion (EU) for accession as a full member. Attention is alsogiven to the extent to which the matter may complicate Turkey'srelations with the EU during these negotiations. Water conflicts in the Middle East have recently become a popularsubject for international scholars.¹ Numerous writers, fromacademics to intelligence analysts, have contributed variousperspectives to the increasingly complex issues surroundingthe topic. Scholars who specialize in water problems in theMiddle East have devoted particular attention to the regionwatered by the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, and their tributaries—anarea commonly known as Mesopotamia. Many of these publicationsare promulgated by two distinct (and opposing) party views:that of the Turkish government on the one hand, and that ofthe Syrian and Iraqi governments on the other.² Consequently,much of the work underpinning the growing body of scholarshipin this area reflects the biases of each position. In analyzing the longstanding conflicts over water rights inMesopotamia, this paper endeavors to accomplish several things.First, to give readers a more complete understanding of thecurrent dispute, a detailed account of the opposing views ofTurkey and Syria/Iraq is provided. Second, the merits of eachposition are weighed in light of the current state of publicinternational law, with particular attention given to Turkey'sdesire to exercise extensive control over the watercourses atissue. Lastly, the potential effects of the changing politicalclimate in the region—namely Turkey's accession talkswith the EU, Iraq's recent regime change, and the uncertaintyof Syria's political future—are considered and discussed.     

Over-incarceration and disenfranchisement

This article presents a model wherein law enforcers propose sentences to maximize their likelihood of reelection, and shows that elections typically generate over-incarceration, i.e., longer than optimal sentences. It then studies the effects of disenfranchisement laws, which prohibit convicted felons from voting. The removal of ex-convicts from the pool of eligible voters reduces the pressure politicians may otherwise face to protect the interests of this group, and thereby causes the political process to push the sentences for criminal offenses upwards. Therefore, disenfranchisement further widens the gap between the optimal sentence and the equilibrium sentence, and thereby exacerbates the problem of over-incarceration. Moreover, this result is valid even when voter turnout is negatively correlated with people’s criminal tendencies, i.e., when criminals vote less frequently than non-criminals.     

Turkey’s global governance strategies at the UN compared to the BRICS (2008–2014): clarifying the motivation–contribution nexus

This study attempts to analyse Turkey’s contribution to the United Nations (UN) system in comparison with those of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) countries between 2008 and 2014 on three levels: personnel, financial, ideational. Employing an integrated methodology of a global governance contribution index (GGCI) and statistical analysis of complementary raw data, this study empirically reveals the degree to which Turkey was able to transfer its capabilities into an effective contribution to the UN system on the three levels. Drawing on the findings of its quantitative analysis, this paper further qualitatively assesses the reasons behind the gap between Turkey’s global governance motivations and its contribution to the UN system. In doing so, this study, first, deals with the main motivational drivers of its activism in global governance in the 2000s. After unpacking its integrated methodology, the second part of this study quantitatively compares Turkey’s contribution to the UN system to that of the BRICS. The third part of this study delves into the main trends and deficiencies in Turkey’s contribution to the UN system. Finally, this study concludes that Turkey, despite its high motivations for activism in global governance, has not performed well in transferring its capacities into contributions to the UN system, particularly on financial and personnel levels.     

The Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) as Criminal Syndicate: Funding Terrorism through Organized Crime,A Case Study

Scholars have long recognized that terrorist groups have engaged in transnational organized crime activities. But the question that comes up is, “When does a criminal enterprise become a terrorist group or vice versa?” Terrorist groups have used physical violence, participated in weapons and drug trafficking networks, immigrant smuggling, and money laundering. More recently a number of terrorist groups have established what Jonathan White has referred to as “illegal multinational criminal organizations.” This article will examine the convergence of terrorism and organized crime through the prism of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).