Prevention of terrorism in liberal democracies : a case study of Turkey

This study analyses the effects and threats posed by revolutionary and ethnic terrorism to the Turkish democracy and also explores possible solutions to the problem within a framework of democratic pluralism. In doing so, this thesis intends to contribute to general debates on prevention of terrorism in democratic countries as well as to the position of the Kurdish Community in Turkish society.;It first explores these issues by way of a conceptual and structural analysis of terrorism and democracy, playing particular emphasis to the causes of terrorism. The analysis establishes the following hypotheses: that democracies can accommodate the religious, political and ethnic differences which terrorists seek to exploit; that a participative form of democracy has a greater chance of success because the general population would be more willing to contribute and co-operate with anti-terrorist government programs; and that the approach any country takes in response to terrorism will depend, in part, on its own peculiar socio-cultural and economic history.;The thesis then proceeds to examine these hypotheses in the light of the Turkish state's experience of and dealing with ideological and ethnic-separatist terrorists, in particular the PKK. The author submits that the hard-line and uncompromising approach of the Turkish state to terrorism has been generally unsuccessful. This has been due to its limited understanding of democracy, which has limited democratic participation to all but the ruling elite, and its insensitivity towards the reasons and motives behind terrorist actions.;As a result, the thesis offers a new approach - the third way - which takes into account the multi-dimensional nature of terrorism, by stressing participation, co-ordination, co-operation rather than domination, as a means of dealing with the problem. It submits that an anti-terrorist package that has popular backing, which is gradually implemented, and which works in conjunction with social and economic reform, is more likely to be successful in combating terrorism in Turkey, and perhaps, in combating terrorism further afield.