IRE204 Politics and Foreign Policy of the Republic of Turkey

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2019
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Vladimír Bízik, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Zdeněk Kříž, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 12:00–13:40 P22
Prerequisites
Being able to read and understand English written academic texts, being able to follow lecturing and participate in English-language classes.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course aims to provide students with knowledge on contemporary Turkish Republic, its political system, historical and social realities underpinning it; as well as its foreign policy, role in regional and global politics and transformations in this area. The course therefore concentrates on three general areas of interest:
1. Overview of the late-Ottoman empire roots of the Turkish republic, its inception and breakdown of the most significant historical transformations in the country and its society.
2. Description of Turkish political and legal institutions, their evolution and transformations to this day, its party system and main political actors.
3. Overview of Turkish foreign policy, its evolution, specifics, challenges; in the region and in the global arena.
Learning outcomes
Successful students of this course will gain insight into the basic realities facing the state of the Turkish republic today and the path dependency that led to today’s situation. They will gain familiarity with the inception of modern Turkey, realities that brought about its initial existence and all the political, societal and legal circumstances that transpired between 1923 and the present day. Students will gain familiarity with the main political actors, political parties and with the main historical milestones, such as revised constitutions, military coups, and political parties gaining power and transforming the state. Students will also get familiar with Turkish foreign policy, its role in NATO, relationship with its neighbors and regional adversaries and allies. They will also be able to explain what historical circumstances brought about the present state of relations. Students will be familiar with the broad strokes of the evolution of Turkish foreign policy, its shifts of direction and possible domestic-policy underpinnings thereof.
Syllabus
  • I. Introduction to the course; introduction to the subject matter: late Ottoman empire and conditions leading to the emergence of the Turkish republic, actors and founding principles
  • II. Overview of Turkish political history, main actors, parties, elections, constitutions, and historical milestones
  • III. Secularism, role of religion in the society
  • IV. Turkish nationalism, identity
  • V. Role of the military in politics and society, military coups
  • VI. The Kurdish Question
  • VII. Transformations in politics and society since 2002 to the present day, Justice and Development Party, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
  • VIII. History of Turkish foreign policy, pivots and main foreign policy objectives in a changing world
  • IX. The Cyprus conflict, relationship with Greece and other neighbors
  • X. Turkey and the European Union
  • XI. Turkey after July 2016 – constitutional changes, authoritarianism, new perspectives
  • XII. Final exam, discussion
Literature
    required literature
  • Mango, Andrew: "Atatürk." In The Cambridge History of Turkey: Volume 4: Turkey in the Modern World, edited by Kasaba, Reşat, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 147-172. 26 pp.
  • Feroz, Ahmad: "Politics and political parties in Republican Turkey." In The Cambridge History of Turkey: Volume 4: Turkey in the Modern World, edited by Kasaba, Reşat, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 226-265. 40 pp.
  • Özbudun, Edgun and Gençkaya. Ömer F. Democratization and the Politics of Constitution-Making in Turkey. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2009. 10-26. 17 pp.
  • Waldman, Simon A. and Çalışkan, Emre. The ‚New Turkey‘ and Its Discontents. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. 60-80. 21 pp.
  • Lewis, Bernard. The Emergence of Modern Turkey. 2d ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1968. 401-424. 24 pp.
  • White, Jenny B.: "Islam and Politics in contemporary Turkey." In The Cambridge History of Turkey: Volume 4: Turkey in the Modern World, edited by Kasaba, Reşat, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 357-380. 24 pp.
  • Grigoriadis, Ioannis N. Instilling Religion in Green and Turkish Nationalism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 74-80. 7 pp.
  • Yavuz, Hakan M. Islamic Political Identity in Turkey. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. 265-274. 10 pp.
  • Lewis, Bernard. The Emergence of Modern Turkey. 2d ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1968. 352-361. 10 pp.
  • Çınar, Meral Uğur. Collective Memory and National Membership: Identity and Citizenship Models in Turkey and Austria. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 16-31. 16 pp.
  • Waldman, Simon A. and Çalışkan, Emre. The ‚New Turkey‘ and Its Discontents. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. 19-37. 20 pp.
  • Keyman, Fuat E. and Gumuşçu, Şebnem. Democracy, Identity and Foreign Policy in Turkey: Hegemony Through Transformation. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 96-115. 20 pp.
  • Waldman, Simon A. and Çalışkan, Emre. The ‚New Turkey‘ and Its Discontents. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. 107-126. 20 pp.
  • Feroz, Ahmad. Turkey: The Quest for Identity. Oxford: Oneworld, 2003. 163-166. 4 pp.
  • Waldman, Simon A. and Çalışkan, Emre. The ‚New Turkey‘ and Its Discontents. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. 39-59. 21 pp.
  • Culbertson, Shelly. The Fires of Spring: A Post-Arab Spring Journey Through The Turbulent New Middle East. New York. St. Martin’s Press, 2016. 76-83. 8 pp.
  • Keyman, Fuat E. and Gumuşçu, Şebnem. Democracy, Identity and Foreign Policy in Turkey: Hegemony Through Transformation. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 70-95. 26 pp.
  • Eksi, Muharrem. The Rise and Fall of Soft Power in Turkish Foreign Policy During JDP: The Rise and Fall of the ‚Turkish Model‘ in the Muslim World. Saarbrücken: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing, 2016. 90-101. 12 pp.
  • Waldman, Simon A. and Çalışkan, Emre. The ‚New Turkey‘ and Its Discontents. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. 127-145. 19 pp.
  • Dalay, Galip. How Ankara Came to Embrace a Policy of Selective Engagement. Middle East Observer. 2016. 3 pp.
  • Danforth, Nick. Turkey’s New Maps Are Reclaiming the Ottoman Empire. Foreign Policy. 2016. 5 pp.
  • Sönmezoglu, Faruk and Ayman, Gülden: The Roots of Conflict and the Dynamics of Change in Turkish-Greek Relations in: Kollias, Christos and Günlük-Şensen, Gülay: Greece and Turkey in the 21st Century. Hauupage: Nova Science, 2003. 37-46. 10 pp.
  • Atakol, Kenan. Thirty-Nine Years into the Cyprus Conflict. Mind and Human Interaction. 2003 (Volume 13). 11-18. 8 pp.
  • Bozdağlıoğlu, Yücel. Turkish Foreign Policy and Turkish Identity: A Constructivist Approach. New York & London: Routledge, 2003. 68-79. 12 pp.
  • Eralp, Nilgün Arısan and Eralp, Atila: What went Wrong in the Turkey-EU Relationship? in: Öktem, Kerem, Kadıoğlu, Ayşe and Karlı, Mehmet: Another Empire? Istanbul: Istanbul Bilgi University Press, 2009. 163-180. 18 pp.
  • Waldman, Simon A. and Çalışkan, Emre. The ‚New Turkey‘ and Its Discontents. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. 11-18. 8 pp.
Teaching methods
Students will draw information from the required readings they must familiarize themselves with before each seminar; as well as from lectures that will be part of each seminar. The lecture and subsequent class discussion will assume knowledge of assigned literature. Attendance is mandatory and each student may miss up to two seminars without any questions asked. Absence from more seminars will only be excused when a formal note (such as a doctor’s note) is filed.
Assessment methods
Students are expected to attend seminars each week, with up to two absences with no questions asked. They need to familiarize themselves with each week’s course readings before attending the seminar. On each seminar, students can get a point for active participation (extraordinarily active students can gain up to two).

Before the end of the semester, each student must write and submit an essay of approximately 7,200 characters (± 20%) (footnotes and bibliography not included) on his or her topic of choice (will be specified later), interpreting the assigned article of choice in the historical context we gained knowledge of in this course. Students can gain up to 35 points for the essay.

At the end of the course, a final exam will be written, composed of multiple-choice and open questions. Students can gain a maximum of 55 points for the exam.

The final grade will be calculated as a percentage of a maximum of 100 points students can earn for all the credit activities.

Grading scale:

A: 100-84 points
B: 83-77 points
C: 76-72 points
D: 71-66 points
E: 65-61 points
F: 60 points and less
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2018, Spring 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2019, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2019/IRE204