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Istanbul Technical University Graduate School of Arts ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN TURKEY’S ACCESSION TO EU: AN OBSTACLE? M.A. THESIS Gizem ERTÜRK Department of Political Studies Political Studies Program Anabilim Dalı : Herhangi Mühendislik, Bilim Programı : Herhangi Program MAY 2013 ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN TURKEY’S ACCESSION TO EU: AN OBSTACLE? M.A. THESIS Gizem ERTÜRK (419091019) Department of Political Studies Political Studies Program Thesis Advisor: Prof. Dr. İştar GÖZAYDIN Anabilim Dalı : Herhangi Mühendislik, Bilim Programı : Herhangi Program MAY 2013 İSTANBUL TEKNİK ÜNİVERSİTESİ SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ TÜRKİYE’NİN AVRUPA BİRLİĞİ’NE ÜYELİĞİ SÜRECİNDE DİNİN ROLÜ: BİR ENGEL Mİ? YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ Gizem ERTÜRK (419091019) Siyaset Çalışmaları Anabilim Dalı Siyaset Çalışmaları Programı Tez Danışmanı: Prof. Dr. İştar GÖZAYDIN Anabilim Dalı : Herhangi Mühendislik, Bilim Programı : Herhangi Program MAYIS 2013 Gizem Ertürk, a M.a. student of ITU Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences. student ID 419091019, successfully defended the thesis entitled “THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN TURKEY’S EU ACCESSION TO EU: AN OBSTACLE?”, which she prepared after fulfilling the requirements specified in the associated legislations, before the jury whose signatures are below. Thesis Advisor : Prof. Dr. İştar Gözaydın .............................. İstanbul Doğuş University Jury Members : Prof. Dr. Gürcan KOÇAN ............................. Istanbul Technical University Assoc.Prof. Dr. Geoff Bove .............................. Istanbul Technical University Date of Submission : 22 April 2013 Date of Defense : 7 May 2013 v vi To İştar Gözaydın, vii viii FOREWORD First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my professors who encouraged me to head towards academic studies during my undergraduate education; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gözde Yılmaz, Assist. Prof. Dr. Sayım Yorgun, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Selamoğlu, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yücel Demirer and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aşkın Keser. I cannot stress how much I thank my thesis advisor, Prof Dr. İştar Gözaydın who channeled me to the subject of this thesis, for her boundless support, knowledge and involvement which enriched not only my thesis but also my life. And once again, for her sine qua non existence in my life, for providing everything that a master student would need and for making me feel calm on the way. I also owe my gratitude to my department in Istanbul Technical University, The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, which I am proud to study. I am also grateful to Prof. Dr. Gürcan Koçan for his friendly support and lectures which multiplied my academic involvement and for conveying valuable knowledge to me during my graduate study. I also thank to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Geoff Bowe for his excellent support which inspired me to look other viewpoints to the subject. I would also like to thank Yakup Ercan Acar. If he was not there, maybe I would not be writing these lines today. Then again, many thanks to my friends Gürcan Salihoğlu, Seray Arabacı, Nihan Ekitöz, Seda Sualp, Nihan Arısoy for their moral support; Murat Şevki Çoban for his valuable opinions and support, Burcu Görek for providing me critical literary sources, Necip Eraslan for his understanding approach which always makes me feel lucky and happy. And special thanks to Deniz Ayşe Uysal for spiriting me up in the weariest moments and for trying to provide me with the space to study. Finally, the best thanks go to Hande Selen Canar because of her endless support at the last stage of this thesis. This thesis would never be completed without the contribution and patience of my family. I would like to thank all my family, namely İbrahim, Solmaz, Alemşah, Reyhan, Ayşen and Yaprak, for making me lucky and safe on every aspect of my life. I have far more than that the words can say for them. April 2013 Gizem ERTÜRK ix x TABLE OF CONTENTS Page FOREWORD ............................................................................................................. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... xi ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................. xiii SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. xiv ÖZET ....................................................................................................................... xvii 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 2. UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY POLITICS ................................................................................................................. 13 2.1 Religion and Secularism ................................................................................... 13 2.2 Religion and Politics ........................................................................................ 21 2.3 “The Global Resurgence of Religion” in World Politics ................................ 27 2.4 The Resurgence of Religion in European Politics ........................................... 31 2.5 Religion as a Soft Power and Religious Actors ............................................ ..34 3.ONEUROPE......................................................................................................... 39 3.1 Islam in Europe: Is it an Obstacle?.................................................................. 44 3.2 Ongoing Discussion: What is Europe?.............................................................45 3.2.1 The idea of a united europe: historical background .................................. 49 3.2.2 Europe in the twentieth century: a unification process ............................. 58 3.2.3 Different viewpoints on the idea of a united europe ................................. 60 3.2.4 Towards the european union: communities and treaties ........................... 63 3.3. Religion in The European Union................................................................... 67 3.3.1 Religion in the legal system of the european union.................................. 67 3.3.2 Is there any common pattern for the member states?................................69 3.3.3 State practices………………................................................................... 70 4. TURKEY’S ACCESSION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION ............................. 81 4.1 A Brief History of Relations Between Turkey and the European Union ......... 81 4.1.1 The term before 2002 ................................................................................ 82 4.1.2 The term after 2002 .................................................................................. 85 4.2 Religion in Turkey: Is it Compatible with the European Union ..................... 88 4.3 Interfaith Dialogue: Is Comprimise Possible Between Different Religions? .. 99 5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 105 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 115 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................ 127 APPENDIX A.: Turkey timeline: A chronology of key events ........................... 127 APPENDIX B.: The Different Meanings of "Europe" in the Discourse on the European Idea...........................................................................................................135 CURRICULUM VITAE ..................................................................................... ...137 xi xii ABBREVIATIONS AKP : Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi EC : European Commission ECHR : European Convention on Human Rights ECSC : European Coal and Steel Community EEC : European Economic Community EMP : Euro Mediterranean Partnership ENP : European Neighborhood Policy EU : European Union EURATOM : European Atomic Energy Community IR : International Relations JDP : Justice and Development Party NATO : North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGO : Non-Governmental Organization NOP : National Order Party NSP : National Salvation Party OECD : Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OIC : Organization of the Islamic Conference TEU : Treaty on European Union UN : United Nations USA : United States of America USSR : The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics PKK : Partiya Kerkeran Kurdistan xiii xiv THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN TURKEY’S ACCESSION TO EU: RELIGION IS AN OBSTACLE? SUMMARY Turkey’s accession to the European Union is an ongoing process with its longstanding background. Cultural differences between Islam and Christianity are one of the several issues which are considered to be an obstacle in the way of Turkey’s full membership to the European Union. Even though objections to Turkey’s membership stressing the cultural difference was not a central issue in the beginning of the accession process, religious differences and the place of religion as a component of the European identity definitions have been discussed. On the one hand, objections based on religious differences has increased. On the other hand, the borders of “Europe” are questioned. More importantly, religious differences have become an issue more recently in parallel with the increasing visibility of religion, particularly Islam in an age of constant globalization with incredible technological
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