Political Participation of Turkey’s Kurds and Alevis: A Challenge for Turkey’s Democratic Consolidation (original) (raw)

Democratization in Turkey? Insights from the Alevi Issue

in: Turkey's Democratization Process, ed. by Carmen Rodriguez, Antonio Avalos, Hakan Yilmaz, Ana I. Planet, Loondon, Routledge, 2013

This chapter aims to analyze the question of democratization from the perspective of the Alevi issue. As a consequence, it pays special attention to the evolution not only of the legal framework affecting their rights, but also to the integration of Alevis in the political process, in particular to the Alevist movement that appeared in the late 1980s. Therefore, this chapter analyzes the way in which Alevi organizations channel their claims, the main constraints they face, and the political and official answers to those claims. Which constraints – legal, but also discursive and informal – do they face, and how do they deal with them? Secondly, this chapter sheds light on the ways in which the perspective of European integration affects the situation of Alevis and their scope for action. Since Turkey's status as a candidate was recognized in 1999, Alevist organizations have presented their claims to European Union officials and therefore brought their claims into Turkey’s EU agenda. This chapter, accordingly, gives an account of the EU-induced reform process from the perspective of the Alevi issue.