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Original Articles

A Comparative Approach to Euroscepticism in Turkey and Eastern European Countries

Pages 249-266 | Published online: 02 Sep 2008
 

Abstract

The pre-accession strategy, by challenging national sovereignty, erodes motivations for EU membership in the candidate countries, hence arising nationalistic reactions. Euroscepticism manifests itself in various forms depending on the way the country undergoes the transition, the domestic meaning of the accession and the country-specific patterns of euroscepticism. The Central and Eastern European countries mostly display great motivations for accession. The gap between expectations and the EU's functioning feed public euroscepticism. Mainstream party consensus however, often filters euroscepticism. Turkey distinguishes by an overall mistrust at both public and party level. The EU's reform demands and the European reluctance for Turkish accession have generated mistrust, focusing the ‘EU debate’ on the cost of accession. At public level, mistrust has fed the idea of an ‘EU threat’ around which the different spheres of the society have come together to oppose EU membership. At party level, mistrust caused parties from fully embracing the EU prospective, which the 2002 elections exemplify. The Turkish case thus illustrates how the uncertainty of the accession affects public opinion and party positioning on the EU issue.

Notes

 1 Milner, S. (2000) A healthy scepticism?, Revue d'Intégration Européenne, 22(1), pp. 9–11.

 2 Henderson, K. (2001) Euroscepticism or Europhobia: Opposition Attitudes to the EU in the Slovak Republic, SEI Working Paper no. 50, p. 6. Available online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/documents/wp50.pdf (accessed 19 September 2006).

 3 Pridham, G. (2005) Political elites in Central and Eastern Europe and the EU's democratic conditionality: a case of convergence?, in: Proceedings of the Conference on Elites and EU Enlargement (Braemen), pp. 12–18. Available online at: http://www.iaw.uni-bremen.de/~jtholen/tagungen/papers/Pridham.pdf (accessed 20 April 2006).

 4 Summarised from Rohrschneider, R. & Whitefield, S. (2006) Political parties, public opinion and European integration in post-Communist countries, European Union Politics, 7(1), p. 5.

 5 European Commission Eurobarometer 63, Public Opinion Survey March–April 2005, p. 41. Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb63/eb63.4_en_first.pdf (accessed 23 January 2007).

 6 The results in the autumn surveys are 53% for 10 new members and 41% for Cypriots. European Commission Eurobarometer 64, Public Opinion Survey October–November 2005, pp. 4–15. Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_ opinion/archives/eb/eb64/eb64_first_en.pdf (accessed 17 March 2006). European Commission Eurobarometer 65, Public Opinion Survey May–June 2006, pp. 13–17. Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb65/eb65_first_en.pdf#search = %22eurobarometer%2065%2Bfirst%20results%22 (accessed 19 September 2006).

 7 European Commission Eurobarometer 64, Public Opinion Survey October–November 2005, p. 7. Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_ opinion/archives/eb/eb64/eb64_first_en.pdf (accessed 19 September 2006).

 8 Summarised from European Commission Eurobarometer, Public Opinion in the Acceding and Candidate Countries, February–March 2004, pp. 2–7. Available online at: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/cceb/2004/cceb_2004.1_first _anx.pdf (accessed 19 September 2006).

 9 Falkner, G. (2001) The Europeanisation of Austria: misfit, adaptation and controversies, European Integration online Papers, 5(13), pp. 15–16. Available online at: http://eiop.or.at/eiop/texte/2001-013a.htm (accessed 9 February 2006).

10 Bielasiak, J. (2004) Party Systems and EU Accession: Euroscepticism in East Europe, Proceedings of the Conference on Public Opinion about the EU in Post-Communist Eastern Europe, p. 8 (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press). Available online at: http://www.indiana.edu/~iupolsci/euconf/Bielasiak.pdf (accessed 7 March 2006).

11 Taggart, P. & Szczerbiak, A. (2002) The Party Politics of the Euroscepticism in EU Member and Candidate States, SEI Working Paper no. 51, p. 12. Available online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/documents/wp51.pdf (accessed 9 March 2006).

12 Alternatively, Kopecky and Mudde took Euroscepticism as a party stance and elaborated the party position in relation to others so as to pinpoint it within the party typology. Kopecky, P. & Mudde, C. (2002) Two sides of Euro-scepticism, European Union Politics, 3(3), pp. 297–326. Available online at: http://eup.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3/3/297 (accessed 9 March 2006).

13 Hix, S. (2005) The Political System of the European Union, pp. 151–166 (New York: Palgrave).

14 Mair, P. (2006) Political parties and party systems, in: P. Graziano & M. Vink (Eds) Europeanization: New Research Agendas. Basingstoke, p. 10 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan). Available online at: http://www.iue.it/SPS/People/Faculty/CurrentProfessors/PDFFiles/MairPDFfiles/PM_PoliticalPartiesChapter12.pdf (accessed 20 March 2006).

15 Ladrech, R. (2001) Europeanization and Political Parties: Towards a Framework for Analysis, KEPRU Working Paper no. 7. Available online at: http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/spire/Working_Papers/ KEPRU/KEPRU%20Paper%207.pdf (accessed 19 March 2006).

16 Taggart, P. & Szczerbiak, A. (2001) Parties, Positions and Europe: Euroscepticism in the EU Candidate States of Central and Eastern Europe, SEI Working Paper no. 46, p. 11. Available online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/documents/wp46.pdf (accessed 22 March 2006).

17 Kritzinger, S. & Michalowitz, I. (2005) Party Position Changes Through EU Membership? The (Non-Europeanisation of Austrian, Finnish and Swedish Political Parties, Reihe Politikwissenschaft Political Science Series no. 103, p. 22. Available online at: http://www.ihs.ac.at/publications/pol/pw_103.pdf (accessed 27 March 2006).

18 Mair, P. (2006) Political parties and party systems, in: P. Graziano & M. Vink (Eds) Europeanization: New Research Agendas. Basingstoke, p. 10 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan). Available online at: http://www.iue.it/SPS/People/Faculty/CurrentProfessors/PDFFiles/MairPDFfiles/PM_PoliticalPartiesChapter12.pdf (accessed 20 March 2006).

19 Taggart, P. & Szczerbiak, A. (2002) The Party Politics of the Euroscepticism in EU Member and Candidate States, SEI Working Paper no. 51, p. 17. Available online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/documents/wp51.pdf (accessed 7 March 2006).

20 Öhlén, M. (2004) Adapting to or Shaping a New Political Culture? European Parties and Parties in the New EU Countries after EU Enlargement, paper presented at the seminar: Political Culture 1, p. 5. Available online at: http://www.epsnet.org/2004/pps/%C3%96hl%C3%A9n.pdf (accessed 10 February 2006).

21 Marks, G. and Hooghe, L. (2004) Party Ideology and European Integration: An East-West Comparison, paper presented at the Conference on Public Opinion about the EU in Post-Communist Eastern Europe, Bloomington, Indiana, p. 4. Available online at: http://www.indiana.edu/~iupolsci/euconf/Marks_etal.pdf (accessed 10 April 2006).

22 Lewis, P. (2003) The Impact of the Enlargement of the European Union on Central European Party Systems, SEI Working Paper no. 71, p. 28. Available online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/documents/wp71.pdf (accessed 10 April 2006).

23 Markowski, R. (1997) Political parties and ideological spaces in East Central Europe, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 30(3), p. 244.

24 Grabbe, H. (2002) Europeanisation Goes East: Power and Uncertainty in the EU Accession Process (London: Centre for European Reform). Available online at: http://www.cer.org.uk/pdf/grabbe_ECPR.pdf (accessed 20 September 2008).

25 Mair, P. (2006) Political parties and party systems, in: P. Graziano & M. Vink (Eds) Europeanization: New Research Agendas. Basingstoke, p. 10 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan). Available online at: http://www.iue.it/SPS/People/Faculty/CurrentProfessors/PDFFiles/MairPDFfiles/PM_PoliticalPartiesChapter12.pdf (accessed 20 March 2006).

26 Kitschelt, H. (1992) The formation of party systems in East Central Europe, Politics and Society, 20(1), p. 20.

27 Öhlén, M. (2004) Adapting to or Shaping a New Political Culture? European Parties and Parties in the New EU Countries after EU Enlargement, paper presented at the seminar: Political Culture 1, p. 5. Available online at: http://www.epsnet.org/2004/pps/%C3%96hl%C3%A9n.pdf (accessed 10 February 2006).

28 Henderson, K. (2001) Euroscepticism or Europhobia: Opposition Attitudes to the EU in the Slovak Republic, SEI Working Paper no. 50, p. 4. Available online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/documents/wp50.pdf (accessed 15 March 2006).

29 Taggart, P. & Szczerbiak, A. (2003) Theorising Party-based Euroscepticism: Problems of Definition, Measurement and Causality, SEI Working Paper no. 69, p. 11. Available online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/1-4-10-1.html (accessed 10 June 2006).

30 Lewis, P. (2003) The Impact of the Enlargement of the European Union on Central European Party Systems, SEI Working Paper no. 71, p. 18. Available online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/documents/wp71.pdf (accessed 14 June 2006).

31 Taggart, P. & Szczerbiak, A. (2002) The Party Politics of the Euroscepticism in EU Member and Candidate States, SEI Working Paper no. 51, pp. 13–15. Available online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/documents/wp51.pdf (accessed 2 May 2006).

32 Lewis, P. (2003) The Impact of the Enlargement of the European Union on Central European Party Systems, SEI Working Paper no. 71, p. 27. Available online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/documents/wp71.pdf (accessed 19 July 2006).

33 European Commission Eurobarometer Spring 65, National Report Turkey, p. 3. Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb65/eb65_tr_exec.pdf (accessed 18 June 2006).

34 According to Yılmaz, ‘a citizen, who would vote yes in a referendum on Turkey's membership in the EU, can also oppose the democratic and liberal reforms imposed by the EU. He can also be “eurosceptic” because of his perception of the EU as a Christian Club, the Cyprus issue etc.’ Yılmaz, H. (2003) Europeanization and Its Discontents: Evidence from Turkey, paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Consortium for Political Research, Marburg, Germany, 18–21 September.

35 European Commission Eurobarometer Spring 65, National Report Turkey, p. 4. Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb65/eb65_tr_exec.pdf (accessed 18 June 2006).

36 Goulard, S. (2004) Le Grand Turc et la République de Venise (Paris: Fayard).

37 Debates concerning a referendum on Turkish accession have reinforced the impression that accession would not take place whatever Turkey does and that conditionality was nothing more than a ‘loss of sovereignty’. Onur Öymen (ex-ambassador and current vice president of the CHP) in a TV debate ‘Mots Croisés’ on France 2. Available online at: http://www.onuroymen.com/docs/gorselbasin50.doc (accessed 10 June 2006).

38 “49% of the respondents said that they viewed the EU as a Christian Club that was closed to Muslim countries, while 42% of them believed that there was place in the EU for a Muslim country like Turkey. Similarly, 48% of the respondents said that the EU will definitely not admit Turkey to full membership, even if Turkey has fulfilled all the accession criteria, whereas only about 29% said that the EU will accept Turkey as a full member once Turkey has met the Copenhagen Criteria for membership”. Yılmaz, H. (2003) Europeanization and Its Discontents: Evidence from Turkey, p. 2, paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Consortium for Political Research, Marburg, Germany, 18–21 September.

39 Manisalı, E. (2002, November 19) Katolik Nikâhı mı? Medeni Nikah mı? [Catholic or secular wedding?], AB Ulusal Bilgi ve İletişim Ağı. Available online at: http://www.ab.kemalist.org/modules.php?name = News&file = categories&op = newindex&catid = 4 (accessed 26 June 2006).

40 Declarations by the MHP (the Nationalist Movement Party), the RP (Welfare Party), the IP (Workers Party), the TKP (the Communist Party of Turkey) and the DSP (the Democratic Left Party), as well as members of civil society. Office of the Prime Minister, Directorate General of Press and Information, Foreign Policy on Domestic Media Archives, December 2002.

41 Muassır medeniyetler seviyesine ulaşma [Reaching the level of contemporary nations]. Atatürk, M. K. (1997) Nutuk (Ankara:Kurtuluş Yayınları).

42 Lewis, B. (2001) The Emergence of Modern Turkey, pp. 255–258 (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press).

43 Oran, B. (2004) Türk Dış Politikası [Turkish Foreign Policy], pp. 70–90 (Istanbul: İletişim).

44 Vizier, C. (2006) Points de vue turcs sur l'Union européenne, in: E. Lannon & J. Le Bullenger (Eds) Les Défis d'une Adhésion de la Turquie à l'Union Européenne, p. 129 (Brussels: Bruylant).

45 ‘Türk öğün, çalış, güven’ [Turk, be proud of yourself, work hard and be self confident]. Quote from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

46 The adjective is used in the sense of Yılmaz Taşkın, who defined reactionism as: a paradigm which sticks to a certain moment of history and tries to restore it, hence refuses change as such. Yılmaz reminded us that, in contrast to reactionism, conservatism does not deny change but tries to control it so as to preserve fundamentals of the already existing system. Taşkın, Y. (2003) Muhafazakarlığın uslanmaz çocuğu: reaksiyonerlik [Reactionism: the spoiled child of conservatism], in: Muhafazakarlık, Modern Türkiye'de Siyasi Düşünce [Conservatism, Political Thought in the Modern Turkey), Vol. 5, p. 187 (İstanbul: İletişim).

47 One of the Ulusalcı conferences illustrates the heterogeneous and reactionary profile of the Ulusalcılar. The conference title and the profiles of the participants are significant. The conference on ‘the Turks, the Armenians and the truth in history’ was held at the University of Muğla on 3–4 December 2005 and gathered together such eminent people as Prof. Türkkaya Ataöv (writer and scholar), Sinan Aygün (the head of the Chamber of Commerce in Ankara), Şenol Bal (the president of the Association of Turkish World Women's Friendship and Solidarity), Orhan Çekiç (the secretary general of the UBK), Onur Öymen (former Turkish ambassador and vice president of the CHP), Turan Çömez (AKP—the pro-EU Islamist party in the government—member of Parliament), Doğu Perinçek (the IP leader), Şener Eruygur (retired general), Prof. Mustafa Erkal (head of Aydınlar Ocağı), Nüzhet Kandemir (former ambassador), Prof. Enver Konukçu (vice president of the centre-right DYP, the True Path party), Dr Agah Oktay Güner (retired general). Nouvelles d'Arménie, Nouveau Symposium Négationniste à l'Université Turque de Muğla, 24 April 2006. Available online at: http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article-20006 (accessed 6 June 2006).

48 Jung, D. (2003) The Sèvres Syndrome: Turkish Foreign Policy and its Historical Legacies (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina). Available online at: http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2003_07-99/jung_sevres /jung_ sevres.html (accessed 10 June 2006).

49 İridağ, O. (2004, January 19) Aydınlar Ocağı'na kızıl ateş düştü [Red fire has fallen within Aydınlar Ocağı], Aksiyon, no. 476. Available online at: http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/detay.php?id = 11069 (accessed 16 June 2006).

50 İlhan Selçuk has been involved in the left since the 1960s. Following Maoism and Kemalism, Selçuk argued that first the national democratic revolution should be finalised. In order to realise social, political and economic transformation Selçuk believed the left could cooperate with the army and national bourgeoisie. Ünsal, A. (2002) Umuttan Yalnızlığa Türkiye İşçi Partisi [From Hope to Solitude, Workers Party of Turkey), pp. 318–319 (İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları).

51 Kuvay-i Milliye denotes the popular resistance movement that emerged within the occupied regions of the Ottoman Empire following the treaty of Sèvres. Kuvay-i Milliye resulted from popular initiatives, with the local forces later being unified under Mustafa Kemal's leadership.

52 Çandar, C. (2002, February 27) AB turnusol kağıdı: Türkiye'nin ilericileri ve gericileri [The EU the litmus paper: the progressives and ‘conservatives’ of Turkey], Yeni Şafak. Available online at: http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/arsiv/2002/subat/27/ccandar.html (accessed 19 June 2006).

53 İridağ, O. (2003, February 3) Ulusalcılar Kıbrıs'a oynuyor [The Ulusalcılar play on Cyprus], Aksiyon, no. 426. Available online at: http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/dergi.php?id = 426 (accessed 21 May 2006).

54 Berkan, İ. (2004, March 22) Hem ‘ulusalcı’ hem de Osmanlıcı (Both Ulusalcı and Ottomanist], Radikal. Available online at: www.radikal.com.tr/veriler/2004/03/22/haber_110487.php (accessed 10 June 2006).

55 İridağ, O. (2003, February 3) Ulusalcılar Kıbrıs'a oynuyor [The Ulusalcılar play on Cyprus], Aksiyon, no. 426. Available online at: http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/dergi.php?id = 426 (accessed 16 June 2006).

56 Aydınlık (2005, January 12) MİT'teki CIA'cılar kışkırtıcı iddiası [The provocative claim of the CIA supporters in the MIT (national intelligence organisation)]. Available online at: http://www.haber7.com/haber.php? haber_id = 71707 (accessed 29 June 2006).

57 The wording again refers to the period of the Turkish war of independence. Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti was the name of the organisation which gathered together Kuvay-i Milliye (local resistance movements) from different regions. The wording emphasises the immediacy of the threat, the Sèvres syndrome, and calls for mobilisation.

58 Even academics who are known to be EU supporters publish articles which show a mistrust of the EU. Kohen, S. (2005, April 29) Çifte standart meselesi … [A matter of double standards], Milliyet. Available online at: http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2005/04/29/yazar/kohen.html (accessed 29 September 2006); Başyurt, E. (2004, December 13) Türkiye, Viyana'yı mı geçiyor, Aksiyon, no. 523. Available online at: http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/dergi.php?id = 523 (accessed 30 June 2006); Avrupa, Konstantinopol'e mi kavuşuyor? [Does Turkey invade Vienna or does the EU embrace Constantinople?] Aksiyon (2004, December 13), no. 523. Available online at: http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/dergi.php?id = 523 (accessed 30 June 2006).

59 European Commission Eurobarometer 64, Public Opinion Survey October–November 2005, p. 24. Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_ opinion/archives/eb/eb64/eb64_first_en.pdf (accessed 30 June 2006).

60 Hakimiyet-i Milliye (national sovereignty) was originally an influential newspaper during the war of independence. It gathers together eminent people such as Prof. Erol Manisalı, former prosecutor of the Turkish Supreme Court, Vural Savaş, etc.

61 This magazine is affiliated to the Islamist Nur movement. Riexinger, M. (2006, May 19) Report to the project DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft-German Study Group) Nur Cemaati Links. Available online at: www.user.gwdg.de/mriexin/NurLinks.html (accessed 1 July 2006).

62 Affiliated to the nationalist MHP.

63 Yeni Mesaj is the newspaper of the BTP (Independent Turkey Party), founded on 25 September 2001. A link to the party exists on the official website of the newspaper.

64 Unofficial paper of the EMEP, the Party of Labour. The EMEP website displays a link to Evrensel, and indicates that information on the EMEP can be obtained on Evrensel (http://www.vekilblog.com/emepistanbul).

65 This magazine belongs to the Communist Workers Party of Turkey (TKIP).

66 Affiliations with the Kemalist Thinking Associations.

67 Diyar, Ç. (2003, June 3) Kürtçe ve Türkçe [Turkish and Kurdish], Evrensel; Yılmaz, M. (2003, June 16) AB üzerinden ‘it dalaşı’ [Instrumentalising the EU], Aksiyon, no. 445. Available online at: http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/detay.php?id = 2678 (accessed 1 July 2006); Koç, E. (2003, June 17) Vahim parselasyon [Grave partion], Yeni Mesaj. Available online at: http://www.yenimesaj.com.tr/index.php?sayfa = yazarlar&haberno = 4066&tarih = 2003-06-17 (accessed 2 July 2006).

68 Mayınlı müzakere! [Negotiations with mines], Evrensel (2004, October 5). Available online at: http://www.evrensel.net/04/10/05/politika.html (accessed 4 July 2006).

69 Selanik Zirvesi: Yeni saldırı kararları [Thessaloniki Summit: decisions for a new attack], Kızıl Bayrak (2003, June 28), 25(115). Available online at: http://www.kizilbayrak.org/2003/sykb25/sayfa_15.html (accessed); AB: Atatürk'ün Türkiye'si Standartlarımıza Uygun Değil (EU: Turkey of Atatürk does not fit into our standards], Hakimiyet-i Milliye (2004, June 17). Available online at: http://www.hakimiyetimilliye.org/modeles.php?name = News&file = article&sid = 3798 (accessed 7 June 2007); AB: Lozan'i değiştiriyoruz [The EU: we are changing the (treaty of) Lausannes], Hakimiyet-i Milliye (2004, October 5). Available online at: http://www.hakimiyetimilliye.org/modeles.php?name = News&file = article&sid = 3722 (accessed 9 June 2007); Hocaoğlu, D. (2004, December 10) AB üyeliği, bağımsız Türk devletinin sonu olur (EU membership is the end of the independent Turkish state), Zaman. Available online at: http://www.zaman.com.tr/?hn = 119637&bl = abyolubdaturkiye (accessed 10 June 2006); Değirmenci, A. (December 23) 17 Aralık Zirvesi sonuçları tartışılıyor. Sonuç nedir? Zafer mi, hezimet mi [Questioning the 17 December summit. What is the result? Victory or defeat?], Yeni Mesaj[Q?]. Available online at: http://www.yenimesaj.com.tr/index.php?sayfa = yazarlar&haberno = 7054&tarih = 2004-12-23 (accessed 18 June 2006).

70 Atatürk, M.K. (1980) Türk Gençliği'ne Hitabesi [Address to the Youth; in: Address to the nation in the 10th year of the Republic]. Available online at: http://www.belgenet.com/arsiv/ata_seslenis.html (accessed 23 April 2006).

71 Copeaux, E. (2000) Tarih Ders Kitaplarında Türk Tarih Tezinden Türk İslam Sentezine [From the ‘Official History Thesis’ to the Synthesis of Turkishness and Islam in History Books], 2nd Edn (İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt yayınları).

72 European Commission Eurobarometer 2006, p. 2; Şenatalar, B. Adaman, F. and Çarkog˘lu, A. (2001) TESEV Yolsuzluk Araştırması [Survey on Corruption], in Coşkun Can Aktan (Ed), Yolsuzlukla Mücadele stratejileri (Ankara: Hak-Iş Yayinlari). Available online at: http://www.canaktan.org/din-ahlak/ahlak/yolsuzlukla-mucadele-stratejileri/tum-yazilar/siyasal-yapi-hakkinda-deger-yargilari.pdf (accessed 18 June 2006).

73 Survey by Akademedya in 2002, the Academic Media and Public Opinion Research Group of Istanbul University Department of Communication. Available online at: http://www.istanbul.edu.tr/iletim/76/haberler/g16.htm (accessed 21 June 2006).

74 Kamış, M. (2006, April 8) Bu terör ne demek istiyor? [What does this terrorism want to say?], Zaman. Available online at: http://www.zaman.com.tr/?bl = yazarlar&alt = &trh = 20060408&hn = 272965&yn = 56 (accessed 27 May 2006).

75 Manifestos are summarised from a document on party manifestos of the Human Rights Association. Available online at: http://ihd.org.tr/basin/parti.doc (accessed 22 June 2006).

76 Yayla, A. (1997) Prospects for democracy and a market economy in Turkey, in: Proceedings of the Middle East Young Leadership Conference (Brussels: F. Naumann Foundation). Available online at: http://www.liberal-dt.org.tr/index.php?lang_en&message_article&art_158 (accessed 22 June 2006).

77 This expression reminds me of Mustafa Kemal's objective for the modernisation project: ‘reach[ing] the level of contemporary civilisations’. AKP Seçim Beyannamesi [AKP Manifesto], in Party Manifestos (The Human Rights Association). Available online at: http://ihd.org.tr/basin/parti.doc (accessed 22 June 2006).

78 Saadet Partisi Seçim Beyannamesi [SP manifesto], in: Party Manifestos (The Human Rights Association). Available online at: http://ihd.org.tr/ basin/parti.doc (accessed 22 June 2006).

79 Çandar, C. (2002, February 27) AB turnusol kağıdı: Türkiye'nin ilericileri ve gericileri [The EU the litmus paper: the progressives and ‘conservatives’ of Turkey), Yeni Şafak. Available online at: http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/arsiv/2002/subat/27/ccandar.html (accessed 24 June 2006).

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