The Turkey Analyst

Vol. 2 no. 23, 21 December 2009

ANALYSIS
After the DTP Closure: From Dialogue to Monologue?
Gareth H. Jenkins
For a party which has frequently expressed its opposition to the closure of political parties, the muted response of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the outlawing of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) spoke volumes. Few appear to have mourned the banning of a party which in recent months had broadened its support base in southeast Turkey at the AKP’s expense. However, the AKP appears unlikely to be able to exploit the closure of the DTP for its own electoral advantage.

Could Turkey's "Glasnost" Establish Equality as the Founding Principle of the State?
Halil M. Karaveli
With its policies of a “democratic opening”, the AKP government has embarked on an enterprise that ultimately challenges the core identity of the republic as a specifically Turkish state. The revulsion that the notion of putting Turkishness on an equal footing with the other identities of society is eliciting suggests that it may, once again, prove difficult to find a liberal way out of the perennial dilemma of Turkey – to establish a secure foundation for the state in a setting of societal heterogeneity.

What the Columnists Say
The decision of the constitutional court to close down the Kurdish Democratic society party (DTP) and the ambush in which seven Turkish soldiers were killed have dominated the Turkish political scene. Notably, several liberal commentators have leveled harsh criticism at the PKK, which they accuse of colluding with the forces of Turkish nationalism in ambushing the “democratic opening” of the government. In general, the closure decision has been interpreted as proof that the “democratic opening” does not enjoy the support of the state establishment. Several commentators have noted that recent developments have above all served to make it plain that the jailed leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan remains the most important Kurdish political player. 

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NEW Silk Road Paper published

Between Fact and Fantasy: Turkey's Ergenekon Investigation, by Gareth H. Jenkins, August 2009.


The Turkey Analyst
The Turkey Analyst is a publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Joint Center, designed to bring authoritative analysis and news on the rapidly developing domestic and foreign policy issues in Turkey. It is published weekly, and includes a topical analysis, as well as translations and summaries of selected Turkish news reports. It is edited and compiled under the supervision of Svante E. Cornell, Halil M. Karaveli, and M. K. Kaya.

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The Joint Center
The Joint Center, created in 2005, is the product of the merger of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, and the Silk Road Studies Program, at the Stockholm-based Institute for Security and Development Policy.

The Turkey Initiative
The Joint Center launched a Turkey Initiative in 2006 in order to improve understand of Turkish domestic and foreign affairs in Europe and the United States.

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