The Political Transformation of Turkey, 1997-2004

This study examines Turkey’s relations with the European Union from December 1997 to December 2004 to understand the major dynamics behind democratization and human rights reforms in Turkey for the given period. For this purpose, the research focuses on three factors: (1) the impact of EU, particularly the Copenhagen conditionality (2) the government structure (coalition vs. majority government) (3) the governing party’s/parties’ commitment level to the EU membership goal. The comparison across three periods of Turkey-EU relations (1997-1999, 1999-2002, 2002-2004) makes it possible to identify the relative significance of each factor for the reforms. In combining the international and domestic origins of Turkey’s political reforms, the study emphasizes the central importance of domestic-international linkages for theoretical and policy purposes. This research was carried out in the Department of Politics of the University of Virginia under the supervision of Professors John M. Owen and William B. Quandt. The research was finalized in August 2007.