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Ilbiz, Ethem (2014) the Impact of the European Union on Turkish Counter

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Ilbiz, Ethem (2014) the Impact of the European Union on Turkish Counter THE IMPACT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ON TURKISH COUNTER-TERRORISM POLICY TOWARDS THE KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY ETHEM İLBİZ Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy JUNE 2014 ABSTRACT This study seeks to examine the impact of the EU on Turkish counter-terrorism policies towards the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). It analyses what impact it has had within three distinct periods: the pre-Helsinki European Council (1984- 1999) period, the post-Helsinki European Council (1999-2004) period, and the post-Brussels European Council (2004-2013) period. It conceptualizes and empirically investigates the EU’s norm diffusion role by relying on the concept of “Rule Adoption”, and by utilising two norm diffusion mechanisms: the “Conditionality” and the “Socialization” mechanism, and their domestic and EU- level determinants. The thesis argues that when the EU has promoted democratisation in Turkey, it has also implicitly impacted on Turkey’s counter- terrorism policies. It argues for this thesis by generalizing from the following empirical findings: When the EU has provided a credible membership prospect to Turkey, and when the PKK attacks have been at a low-level, then the EU conditionality mechanism has been influential on Turkey’s adoption of EU promoted norms. However, when there has been no membership prospect and high levels of PKK violence, it has been the openness of Turkish political actors that has resulted in rule adoption, in which the social learning of the Turkish political actors has led to the adoption of EU promoted norms as an appropriate way to solve existing terrorism problems. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Undertaking this research project has been one of the most challenging experiences of my life. Without the support of certain people and institutions it would not have been accomplished. Even though I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has had a role in supporting me, due to limited space, I only have chance to say thanks to a limited number of people. First and foremost, I owe a great debt to the Turkish Government for their generous funding and the opportunity to take sabbatical leave. This project would not have been possible without these things. The invaluable academic support of my principle supervisor Prof. Wyn Rees has been of equal importance, and I express my gratitude to him not only for his academic support, but for his patience in discussing issues with me during my study. Without his support, this research would not have been completed. I would also like to thank to my secondary supervisors, Dr. Andrew Mumford and Dr. Rod Thornton, and my external-internal examiners Prof. Christian Kaunert and Dr. Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling whose advice at different stages of my research project was also invaluable. I would also like to thank the administrative staff and my colleagues in the School of Politics and International Relations; Veronica Blake, Sarah Matthews, Maria Wade, Gail Evans, Marie Paxton, Ertan Erol, Zeynep Özkurt, Elif Uzgören, Görkem Altınörs, Hamit Eren, Francesca Silvestri, Esther Akanya, Ekaterina Kolpinskaya, Abeeda Qureshi, Ali Sarıhan, Kürşat Çevik, İnanç Kamburoğlu, Nana Agyeman, Ercan Eser, Dimitrios Anagnostakis, Peter Cruttenden, Efsun Kızmaz, Jakub Kulhanek, Ayhan Bakar, Faruk Ender Uzunoğlu and others who created a supportive and friendly office environment for me. Also, I would like to express special thanks to my dear friend Benjamin Curtis for sacrificing his valuable time in order to proofread this thesis. Finally, I would like to emphasize the debt of gratitude that I owe to my wife Dilek İlbiz for her support and faith in me throughout the time I have spent on this thesis. I dedicate this thesis to her, but she deserves much more than this. 2 LIST OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................................2 LIST OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS....................................................................................................7 LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................11 1. Introduction................................................................................................................12 1.1. Methodology......................................................................................................26 1.2. What is Meant by Terrorism? ............................................................................34 1.3. Turkey’s Democratic State Dilemma: Security versus Liberty ...........................39 1.4. The Intersection of the Kurdish Question and European Integration ...............42 1.5. The Structure of the Thesis................................................................................47 2. Literature Review........................................................................................................50 2.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................50 2.2. External Dimension of EU’s Counter-terrorism Policy.......................................52 2.3. The EU’s Normative Role on Counter-terrorism................................................56 2.4. The Motives of the EU to Diffuse Liberal Democratic Norms............................59 2.5. Europeanization and Counter-terrorism............................................................63 2.6. Mechanisms for Diffusing EU Norms .................................................................65 2.7. How the EU Diffuses Norms in its Neighbourhood............................................76 2.8. Norm Diffusion in Turkey...................................................................................80 2.9. Conclusion..........................................................................................................83 3 3. The Theoretical Framework for the EU Impact on Turkish Counter-Terrorism Policy......87 3.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................87 3.2. Conditionality.....................................................................................................89 3.3. Theorizing Conditionality ...................................................................................92 3.4. External Incentives Model..................................................................................95 3.4.1. Credibility of Conditionality.....................................................................96 3.4.2. Adoption Costs ........................................................................................98 3.5. Socialization .....................................................................................................100 3.6. Theorizing Socialization....................................................................................102 3.7. Social Learning Model......................................................................................103 3.7.1. Legitimacy of the EU Requirements......................................................104 3.7.2. Domestic Resonance .............................................................................108 3.8. The Tools Evaluating Adoption of EU Promoted Norms..................................109 3.9. Policy Actors.....................................................................................................111 3.9.1. Internal Actors.......................................................................................111 3.9.2. External Actors ......................................................................................114 3.10. Conclusion......................................................................................................115 4. Role of the EU in Promotion of Liberal Democratic Norms to Third Countries in Counter- Terror Context ..............................................................................................................118 4.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................118 4.2. The Pre-Tampere Period ..................................................................................120 4.3. The Post-Tampere Period ................................................................................128 4.4. The Post-Madrid/London Period .....................................................................137 4.5. Conclusion........................................................................................................145 5. The Pre-Helsinki Period..............................................................................................149 4 5.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................149 5.2. Turkey’s Policies for Countering the PKK.........................................................150 5.3. The EU Response to Turkish Counter-Terrorism Practices ..............................157 5.4. The Impact of the EU on Rule Adoption ..........................................................167 5.4.1. Ratification of International Laws .........................................................167 5.4.2. Domestic Legislative
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