The Treatment of Ethnic Minorities in Democratizing Muslim Countries: the Securitization of Kurds in Turkey Versus the Autonomization of Acehnese in Indonesia
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Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations Graduate Program in International Studies Spring 2017 The Treatment of Ethnic Minorities in Democratizing Muslim Countries: The Securitization of Kurds in Turkey Versus the Autonomization of Acehnese in Indonesia Maurizio Geri Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gpis_etds Part of the International Relations Commons Recommended Citation Geri, Maurizio. "The Treatment of Ethnic Minorities in Democratizing Muslim Countries: The Securitization of Kurds in Turkey Versus the Autonomization of Acehnese in Indonesia" (2017). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, International Studies, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/579t-6s87 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gpis_etds/14 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Program in International Studies at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE TREATMENT OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN DEMOCRATIZING MUSLIM COUNTRIES: THE SECURITIZATION OF KURDS IN TURKEY VERSUS THE AUTONOMIZATION OF ACEHNESE IN INDONESIA by Maurizio Geri M.A. 2007, University of Florence A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL STUDIES OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY May 2017 Approved by: David Earnest Francis Adams Fran Hassencahl ABSTRACT THE TREATMENT OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN DEMOCRATIZING MUSLIM COUNTRIES: THE SECURITIZATION OF KURDS IN TURKEY VERSUS THE AUTONOMIZATION OF ACEHNESE IN INDONESIA Maurizio Geri Old Dominion University, 2017 Director: Dr. David Earnest Samuel Huntington1, almost half century ago, explained how the state capacity is fundamental to guarantee order in societies in transition. Francis Fukuyama2, recently, recuperated this concept arguing that a strong effective state is fundamental for stability of democratizing countries. But strong institutions are not enough to make democracy and political order compatible: institutions need to be also inclusive, to foster participation of all parts of society, including ethnic minorities. The main question this study wants to answer is: what factors explain the differences in how democratizing Muslim countries treat their ethnic minorities? Studies of social conflict or democratization in Muslim countries typically emphasize sectarian divisions but ignore ethnic differences. The research is a comparative analysis of two similar cases with different outcomes: Turkey and Indonesia. The focus of the study is to analyze specifically two cases and outcomes: the securitization (Buzan et. al., 1998) of Kurds in Turkey and the “autonomization” (Lijphart, 2004) of Acehnese in Indonesia, to understand what independent variables affect these different results. The cases chosen are the two most scholarly recognized democracies in the Muslim world. The hypotheses to test are four: the elites’ power interest, following the Rational Choice theory, the international factors, following the structural theories, the institutions and history of the state, following the Historical-Institutionalist theory, and finally the ontological security of the country, following the Critical theories. Also, by examining states with ethnic diversity but very little religious diversity, the research controls for the effect of religious conflict on minority inclusion, and so allow future generalization and comparison to minority inclusion in 1 Samuel P Huntington, Political order in changing societies (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968). 2 Francis Fukuyama, Political order and political decay (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014). 2 Francis Fukuyama, Political order and political decay (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014). democratizing states that are not Muslim. The research design is based on the ‘most similar systems’ (Miller criteria) and on ‘process tracing’, to clarify the causal chain. iv Copyright, 2017, by Maurizio Geri, All Rights Reserved. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank first of all my supervisor, Dr. David C. Earnest, who helped me not only with this work but also to improve my professional and human progression; my Committee, Dr. Francis Adams and Dr. Fran Hassencahl, for their interest in these topics and availability in times of scarcity of professors in the Program; and the director of our program, Dr. Regina Karp, for her support and for being open to new ideas and future possibilities for our program. Thanks to all the faculty and colleagues for their inputs, to the staff for their kindness, and to the Dean’s Office for the financial assistance to earn a doctorate in an American university. Thanks to my cohort, for their friendship and support, and to my family, for their constant encouragement. I dedicate this study to Shadia Marhaban, who has been always my anchor and my beacon, to the Kurds and the Acehnese, for a bright path, and to all minorities around the world, the disenfranchised, the underdog, the people excluded and discriminated. Here’s to you, for a future in which all humankind will find the path to social justice and human equality. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 1 Theoretical Approach ....................................................................................................................... 6 Case Studies and Possible Hypothesis ........................................................................................... 11 Organization of the Study ............................................................................................................. 14 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................................... 17 Definition of Ethnic Minority Identity ........................................................................................... 17 Inclusion Versus Exclusion of Minorities in Democracies ............................................................ 19 Inclusion Versus Exclusion of Minorities in Democratization Processes ..................................... 24 Strategies of Inclusion in Democracies .......................................................................................... 26 Outcomes of Theoretical Interest: Securitization and Autonomization ......................................... 29 Independent Variables. Four Schools: Rationalism, Structuralism, Historical Institutionalism, and Critical Theory ................................................................................................................... 38 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 53 3. RESEARCH DESIGN ........................................................................................................................... 55 Research Method and Sources ....................................................................................................... 55 Case Studies Choice and Selection Criteria ................................................................................... 57 Causal Mechanism to Research in the Two Case Studies .............................................................. 68 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 73 4. SECURITIZATION AND AUTONOMIZATION IN TURKEY AND INDONESIA: A BRIEF HISTORY AND REVIEW OF THE PERIOD OF DEMOCRATIZATION ............................................. 75 Securitization Theory Applied to Kurdish Case ............................................................................ 75 The Kurdish Issue in Turkey: A History of Exclusion and Securitization Changing with EU Candidacy ................................................................................................................................. 78 Turkish Democracy: Recent Developments ................................................................................... 88 Turkish Recent Re-securitization of the Kurdish Minority ............................................................ 96 The Acehnese Issue in Indonesia: a History of Securitization ..................................................... 102 Indonesian Recent Autonomization of the Acehnese Minority ................................................... 105 5. POLITICAL ELITES’ POWER INTEREST AND RATIONAL DECISION MAKING ................. 114 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 114 Theoretical Background ............................................................................................................... 115 Theories Applied to Case Studies ................................................................................................ 118 Evidence for Turkey: from Autonomization to Securitization .................................................... 121 Evidence for Indonesia: from Securitization to Autonomization ................................................ 133