Doctoral Dissertation Research: Explaining outcomes in trials concerning terrorist-related charges in Turkey

The age-old dilemma of protecting rights while allowing pursuit of other national purposes colors states' aspirations to be respectful of cultural differences while also protecting public safety in the era of concern about terrorism-related activities. Turkey and the status of the Kurds within Turkey provides an important case study of how states have addressed the protection of rights while pursuing legal processes concerning activities the state is concerned may be precursors to terrorist activity. In pursuit of its desire to join the European Union, Turkey implemented a series of reforms that allowed Kurds to exercise some of their formerly prohibited cultural rights. As cultural reforms have been undertaken, the state has simultaneously instituted strenuous new legal measures that have expanded the scope of prosecutable acts of terrorism.

This research will provide the first empirical data on anti-terror trials in Turkey and contribute to the newly emerging scholarship on law and global war on terror. This research will inquire into the portrayal of an antagonist relation between rights and security. The international importance of concerns both for cultures and for public safety make this project important to broad communities.