Cultural policy of Turkey and England in the 1980s: A comparative study

The Republic of Turkey, to a great extent, represents a transition from a traditional Eastern style cultural heritage to a modern, Western oriented future in projection. Consolidation of the new state?s formation by its nature necessitated a nation building process which required dynamic and aggressive cultural policies during the early years of the Republic. As a result of external and internal political developments, Turkey entered into the multi-party system which in a way represented a ?correction? in terms of cultural policies. In the following years, Turkey?s Western orientation is underlined by liberal policies during the globalization period. This paper aims to investigate the preferences of the Turkish State?s cultural policies under the rule of liberals who introduced open market economy into Turkey. The developments in Britain during 1980s can be seen as the main source of inspiration behind the cultural policies of Turkey during this time period. Therefore, the present study also aims to focus the ?original? liberal tendencies towards cultural policies.This thesis will draw upon a range of primary sources focusing on cross-national cultural policy research. The acts of parliaments concerning cultural policies in England and Turkey during 1980s will be the main frame. Furthermore, main trends of cultural policies during the early years of The Republic of Turkey, trends of the transition period into the multi-party system and early 1980s will be underlined to give an idea of Turkish standpoint in the wake of globalization. Research has done by current practitioners contending to deal with the issues of cross-cultural policies of a global world view will be analyzed. Finally, Turgut Ozal?s Turkey and Margaret Thatcher?s Britain in terms of attitudes to cultural policies will be compared.Keywords: Culture, cultural policy, globalization, Turkey, England, Ozal, Thatcher.