Generals, Christians and Turkey’s European Revolution
Generals, Christians and Turkey’s European Revolution

Summary/Abstract: Abstract. This paper discusses the process of political change in Turkey since 1999. After a first phase of numerous EU-inspired reforms, this process after 2004 has shifted to a domestic debate over the meaning of these reforms. Understanding how this process unfolds not only is crucial to understanding Turkey, but also to better grasping the dynamics of Europeanization. The article looks at two issues in particular that illustrate Turkey’s Europeanization efforts: the position of non-Muslim minorities and the position of the Turkish military. In both fields, reforms have been carried out between 2001 and 2004 followed by signs of serious tensions: a wave of attacks against Turkey’s Christians, culminating in a series of assassinations in 2006 and 2007; and an effort by an important fraction of the military hierarchy to reverse the Turkish armed forces’ loss of political influence. Europeanization in Turkey clearly has become a domestic struggle.

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