Relations between the government and the opposition in Turkey (2002-2010)

This study examines all the developments in domestic and foreign policy that started with the AK Party's coming to power in the context of power-opposition relations and examines the social transformations and their effects on Turkish political life. This thesis examines the relations between the government and the opposition in Turkey between 2002 and 2010. This period, which began with the Justice and Development Party (AKP) coming to power alone in the 2002 general elections, has been the scene of significant changes and transformations in Turkish political life. While the AKP has taken innovative steps in democratization, economic reforms and foreign policy issues, the opposition parties have made both structural and strategic responses to these developments. In the study, the relations between the government and the opposition during this period will be discussed within the framework of political strategies, conflict dynamics and joint government policies. In this study, the concept of 'opposition' covers the political parties that were represented in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey between 2002 and 2010 and played an active role in the political dynamics of the period. In this context, the main opposition party, in particular, the other opposition parties in the parliament will also be evaluated within the scope of the study. The AKP's "neoconservative" and "liberal democrat" discourses, its breakthroughs related to the democratization process, the opposition's stance constitute the main themes of this study. In addition, it will be analyzed how the developments in the field of domestic and foreign policy of the period were reflected in the relations between the government and the opposition. The primary reason for researching this period is that it is a period of time during which important steps have been taken regarding Turkey's democratization process, economic reforms and foreign policy strategies, so that different aspects of power and opposition relations can be observed. Moreover, after 2010, the political structure and the situation of the opposition in Turkey have greatly changed with the rapid change of the political climate and the emergence of new political actors. For this reason, the period 2002-2010 has been selected as an original period for analysis. Another reason why the research covers this period is that the political discourses of the government and the opposition, election strategies, social polarization, and the effects on the norms of law and democracy have become evident in these years. In addition, the fact that Turkey began to play an active role in foreign policy during these years and the reforms in domestic politics have deeply affected the strategic attitudes of the government and the opposition towards each other. This study provides an analysis to understand whether the government and the opposition perform democratic control and balancing functions, the structural difficulties of the opposition, and whether the government's policies are reciprocated. The research discusses the extent to which the democratic foundations have strengthened or weakened in Turkey in the light of important political events, social and economic dynamics experienced during this period. Keywords: Political Party, Government, Opposition, Constitutional Amendment Referandum