Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: CONCLUSION The Consolidation of Democracy versus Democratization in Turkey METİN HEPERDemocratization is attaining greater political participation.The consolidation of democracy is democracy becoming "the only game in town."The preceding contributions indicate that in recent years Turkey has made good progress in preparing the ground for consolidating its democracy.On the other hand, the country's success in democratizing its political regime has been less than adequate.It may sound paradoxical, but at least in the case of some political parties inadequate democratisation seems to have been functional for the progress Turkey has registered towards the consolidation of its democracy The first prerequisite for the consolidation of democracy is a consensus among the members of the political class on the rules of democracyfreedom of expression, absence of restrictions on political participation, free and fair elections, and the like.Second, there must be national unity; political actors must act in unison when democracy faces a critical threat.For them to act in such a manner there would be need for trust and harmony among political actors.For the consolidation of democracy in Turkey, political actors' acting in a responsible as well as responsive manner is also an important prerequisite.This means paying attention to the long-term interests of the country.In Turkey, the interests in question are those defined as critical by the military, since the 1982 Constitution and other relevant legislation has saddled the military with the task of protecting the county from internal as well as external threats.During recent years, the military has perceived the Kurdish question and political Islam as two critical internal threats.The military fulfils its task of protecting Turkey from the internal as well as external threats via the National Security Council (Milli Güvenlik Kurulu-MGK).The MGK is made up of the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, the ministers of defense, interior, justice, and foreign 9 31ts08.
Source: Turkish Studies
DOI: 10.1080/714005698
Author: Metin Heper
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2322868412