Turkey In The New Millennium : A Critique of Political, Social and Economic Transformations

This book presents and critically examines the political, social and economic transformations occurred in Turkey from the 1980s into the new millennium from a democratic perspective, but particularly since 1999 when Turkey was officially announced at the Helsinki Summit as a candidate for the EU membership . Enhancing democracy in Turkey requires redrawing the boundaries between the central government and the local and regional administrations, and between the state and the market, civil society, and individual with a democratic, emancipatory, pluralistic and participatory perspective. This is necessary because, despite its success in economic growth, Turkey still has some problems in its political and administrative system regarding the preconditions of democracy and some deficiencies in the functioning of its judicial system and poor performance in protecting especially women's rights and the freedom of the press and expression. This book therefore focuses on the transformation of democracy, political life and the structure of the state as well as on other closely associated and intertwined issues such as changes in the economy, society, local communities and cities in Turkey.