View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Bilkent University Institutional Repository PRESIDENTS, THE STATE AND “DEMOCRACY” IN TURKEY THE IDEAS AND PRAXIS OF SÜLEYMAN DEMĐREL A Ph. D. Dissertation by ZEYNEB ÇAĞLIYAN ĐÇENER Department of Political Science and Public Administration Bilkent University Ankara February 2010 To my mother and father PRESIDENTS, THE STATE AND “DEMOCRACY” IN TURKEY THE IDEAS AND PRAXIS OF SÜLEYMAN DEMĐREL The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by ZEYNEB ÇAĞLIYAN ĐÇENER In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE and PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION BĐLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA February 2010 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Public Administration. --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Metin Heper Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Public Administration. --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Ergun Özbudun Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Public Administration. --------------------------------- Associate Prof. Dr. Menderes Çınar Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Public Administration. --------------------------------- Assistant Prof. Dr. Đlker Aytürk Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Public Administration. --------------------------------- Assistant Prof. Dr. Aylin Güney Examining Committee Member Approval of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Erdal Erel Director ABSTRACT PRESIDENTS, THE STATE AND “DEMOCRACY” IN TURKEY THE IDEAS AND PRAXIS OF SÜLEYMAN DEMĐREL Çağlıyan Đçener, Zeyneb Ph.D., Department of Political Science and Public Administration Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Metin Heper February 2010 This study aims to analyze the “statist” role that a president in the Turkish parliamentary system may play in maintaining a viable democracy, drawing on Giovanni Sartori’s bidimensional democracy theory and Alan Siaroff’s classification based on assessments of the nature of presidents. This study firstly discusses how under certain circumstances presidents come to have more powers in Turkey. It is argued that with the 1982 Constitution the president may assume a “corrective” role, despite lacking the legitimacy of popular elections, through benefiting from the vagueness of Article 104 of the Constitution. Unlike counterparts in some other parliamentary systems, the president in Turkey is not a symbolic and passive political actor but enjoys extensive powers. Focusing on the presidential term of Süleyman Demirel, this study secondly discusses how the president’s interpretations of his power and the way he puts this into practice may have had an impact on the maintenance of a viable democracy. The study suggests that Demirel developed a political line that prioritizes the effective functioning of the state, which he sees as indispensable for democracy. This explains the incentive behind Demirel’s active role as the president in protecting the political fabric of the state, which for him is directly linked with preserving the democratic nature of the regime. Despite coming from the circles of political elites, Demirel was able to set up a dialogue with the state elites when he was president, and thus iii was moderately successful in achieving a balance in the chronically troubled relationship between the state elites and the political elites. Keywords: President, state, democracy, Turkey, Demirel, state elites, political elites iv ÖZET TÜRKĐYE’DE CUMHURBAŞKANLARI, DEVLET VE “DEMOKRASĐ” SÜLEYMAN DEMĐREL’ĐN DÜŞÜNCELERĐ VE ĐCRAATI Çağlıyan Đçener, Zeyneb Ph.D., Siyaset Bilimi ve Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü Tez Danışmanı: Prof. Dr. Metin Heper Şubat 2010 Bu çalışma, Giovanni Sartori’nin iki boyutlu demokrasi teorisinden ve Alan Siaroff’un cumhurbaşkanlarının yetkilerini temel alan sınıflandırmasından yararlanarak Türk parlamenter sisteminde cumhurbaşkanının işler bir demokrasi kurma sürecinde oynayabileceği “devleti merkeze alan rol”ünü analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma ilkin Türkiye’de cumhurbaşkanlarının belirli koşullarda nasıl daha fazla yetkiye sahip duruma geldiğini tartışmaktadır. 1982 Anayasası ile cumhurbaşkanının, halk tarafından seçilmediği ve dolayısıyla seçilme kaynaklı bir meşruiyetten yoksun olduğu halde, Anayasanın 104. maddesinin müphem çerçevesinden istifade ederek “düzeltici” bir rol üstlenebileceğini ileri sürmektedir. Başka bazı parlamenter sistemlerdeki mevkidaşlarından farklı olarak Türkiye’de cumhurbaşkanı, sembolik ve pasif bir siyasi aktör olmanın aksine geniş yetkilere sahiptir. Süleyman Demirel’in cumhurbaşkanlığı dönemine odaklanan bu çalışma ikinci olarak cumhurbaşkanının yetkilerini yorumlayışının ve bunu pratiğe aktarışının işler bir demokrasiyi kurma sürecine nasıl bir etki yapabileceğini tartışmaktadır. Çalışma, Demirel’in demokrasinin vazgeçilmezi olarak gördüğü işleyen devlet kavramına öncelik veren bir siyasi üslup geliştirdiğini ileri sürmektedir. Bu durum, Demirel’in cumhurbaşkanı olarak devletin siyasi dokusunu koruma hususunda –ki Demirel’de rejimin demokratik yapısını muhafaza etmekle doğrudan ilişkilidir- oynadığı aktif rolün arkasında v yatan sebebi açıklamaktadır. Siyasi seçkinlerin arasından geliyor olmasına karşın Demirel cumhurbaşkanlığı süresince devlet seçkinleriyle diyalog kurabilmiş ve bu sayede her zaman problemli bir çizgide seyreden devlet seçkinleri-siyasi seçkinler ilişkisine denge getirmeyi kısmen başarabilmiştir. Anahtar kelimeler: Cumhurbaşkanı, devlet, demokrasi, Türkiye, Demirel, devlet seçkinleri, siyasi seçkinler vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is a great pleasure for me to finally reap the fruits of a long and painful process. In this personal journey, I have sometimes felt like I should throw in the towel. But there have been some other times when I have found myself filled with enthusiasm. I would like to express my gratitude to particular people without whose advice and encouragement this dissertation could never have been completed. First of all, I am deeply grateful to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Metin Heper for his detailed guidance and continuous encouragement. For all my life, I will consider it a great privilege to be his assistant and student. I am also indebted to Prof. Dr. Ergun Özbudun for his constructive criticisms and enlightening comments on several chapters. For the probing questions and invaluable suggestions, Associate Prof. Dr. Menderes Çınar, Assistant Prof. Dr. Aylin Güney and Assistant Prof. Dr. Đlker Aytürk deserve my special thanks as well. I should also mention the positive contribution of Prof. Dr. Ümit Cizre and Associate Prof. Dr. Tanel Demirel whose comments became stimulating in the earlier stages of this research. I also wish to express my appreciation to Prof. Dr. Hikmet Özdemir for securing some important sources on Demirel. vii I owe a debt of gratitude to Bilkent University for providing an inspiring and supportive environment. I have benefited much from the lively academic atmosphere and the extensive social facilities. I am particularly thankful to Güvenay Kazancı who is always generous in giving help whenever needed. Many friends also deserve my special thanks. Burcu Sarı Karademir has not only provided good cheer but also helped to nurture the essay through raising some issues to my consideration. Hale Sert has refreshed my heart with her rosy sentences when a sense of despair overwhelmed me. Hikmet Banu Yılmaz’s sweet warm voice has always become a morale booster even from miles away. Among many colleagues and friends that I met in Bilkent, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Petek Karatekelioğlu, Devrim Kabasakal, Gül Kolat Avcı, Etrit Shkreli, Eylem Akdeniz, Necip Yıldız, and Gülbanu Altınok for the cosy chats and fruitful discussions. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family. For almost all my life, I am inspired by my father’s search for the truth with a passionate scientific mind and my mother’s search for the good with a loving and caring heart. I owe a lot to both for their emotional support and personal sacrifices in all stages of my life. My sister Feyza never loses her confidence in me even at the times when I felt as if I could not make it. My brother Fatih is my hero who taught me that life always has a humurous side. The twins, Berra and Kerem, are the sources of refreshment viii for my mind from the weariness of the thinking, reading and writing process. My special thanks also go to my sister-in-law Jülide and my brother-in-law Bülent for their constant support. Last but not the least I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my husband Erhan who deserves much of the credit for the completion of this journey. His wit, wisdom and intelligence have become great assets