The Transformation of Kurdish and Islamist Parties in Turkey : Consequences for Regime Change

"This book analyzes the transformation of ethnic and religious political parties in Turkey with special focus on their role in the country's democratization and regime changes. Turkey went through a process of autocratization under the rule of the AKP government over the last two decades. Scholars question the structural, agent-centered and cultural factors that led the country on this path, and provide the lessons learnt from this case for other cases of democratic decline or breakdown. This book contributes to this debate. It treats the three national elections (2002, 2007, 2015-June) as opportunities for democratization, in which the Islamist-successor AKP (in 2002, 2007) and the Kurdish-successor HDP (in 2015-June) managed to overcome identity politics and received the organized support from social groups outside of their traditional constituency. This book argues that in a semi-democratic context where repressive acts of the state (e.g. banning of parties, arresting politicians) have been subject to widespread public criticism, confronting the state becomes a salient issue. When these parties manage to frame this issue as one of democracy, they take ownership of it, and this then becomes an opportunity for democratizing the regime. This opportunity, yet, can be missed if the party follows an office-seeking strategy rather than a policy-seeking one. Pelin Ayan Musil is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Relations, Prague in the Czech Republic."-- Page 4 of cover Preface Acknowledgments Contents About the Author Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables 1 Comparing Ethnic and Religious Parties in Turkey 1.1 Research Design and Case Selection Criteria 1.1.1 Why Compare Ethnic and Religious Parties? 1.2 Theoretical Approach and the Main Argument 1.2.1 Issue Ownership Theory: A Connection Between the Theories of Moderation and Populism? 1.2.2 Consequences on Democracy 1.3 Data and Methods 1.4 Structure of the Book Notes Bibliography 2 Comparing the Origins of the AKP and the HDP 2.1 Sources of Legitimacy of the Two Parties in the Political System 2.1.1 Turkish-Islam Synthesis (TIS) and the Rising Legitimacy of the AKP’s Predecessors 2.1.2 Desecuritization of the Kurdish Identity in the 2000s and the Rising Legitimacy of the HDP’s Predecessors 2.2 Party Goals: Vote, Office or Policy-Seeking? 2.2.1 The Birth of the AKP as an Office-Seeking Party 2.3 The Birth of the HDP Both as an Office and a Policy-Seeking Party Notes References 3 A Discursive Opportunity Structure to Confront the State 3.1 Turkey’s Europeanization Context as a Discursive Opportunity Structure for the AKP 3.2 The Gezi Context as a Discursive Opportunity Structure for the HDP Notes References 4 State Repression, Issue-Ownership and the Populist Surge: Comparing the AKP and the HDP 4.1 2002 National Elections and the AKP 4.1.1 The Conviction and Imprisonment of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (1998–1999) 4.1.2 Formation of the AKP: A Party That Confronts the Injustices of the Turkish Political System 4.1.3 Support from the Kurds and Liberal Intellectuals for the AKP in 2002 Elections 4.2 2007 National Elections and the AKP 4.2.1 E-Memorandum of 27 April 2007 4.2.2 Court Decision on Presidential Elections on 1 May 2007 4.2.3 Support from the Kurds and Liberal Intellectuals for the AKP 4.3 2015 National Elections and the HDP 4.3.1 The HDP’s Framing of State Repression (2013–2015) 4.3.2 Support from the Socialist, Feminist and Environmental Groups 4.4 Summary Notes References 5 Conclusion: Consequences on Regime Change 5.1 Regime Change Toward Competitive Authoritarianism in Turkey Since 2007 5.2 Existing Explanations on the Collapse of the Turkish Democracy 5.3 The Office vs. Policy-Seeking Goals and the Regime Change After 2015 Notes References Appendix Religious Party Activists Ethnic Party Activists Index