OUR COURSES

ABOUT THIS COURSE

This course focuses on the Ottoman-Turkish Constitutional Developments; the 1982 Constitution of Turkey, Characteristics of the Republic, Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, Legislative Power, Elections, Members of Parliament, Parliamentary Immunities, Executive Power, Judiciary, Constitutional Court and Constitutional Review. It mainly gives an opportunity to develop a general sense and knowledge on the Ottoman-Turkish Constitutions. It provides students a chance to foster an analytical understanding and evaluation of constitutional history of Turkey.

Throughout the course, students will be developing an ability to analyze the current governing system of Turkey from a perspective of comparative constitutional law. They will not only acquire general knowledge on Turkish constitutional law and politics as well as political and constitutional history of the Turkish state –both late Ottoman era and the Republic; but also understand the significant discussions on human rights, democracy, and rule of law, from a perspective of constitutional law theory. Weekly lectures will help students to improve their skills to comment and discuss about past and contemporary issues of constitutional government in Turkey.

As a point of departure, course will start by explaining the main political and constitutional developments of the 19th century and early 20th century Ottoman Empire. It will then continue with exploring the nation and constitution building process of the young Turkish republic. Important political/constitutional developments of the 60’s and 70’s that lead to the military coup d’etat of 1980 is also a part of this course. Thereafter, the course will explore the constitutional order as provided by the 1982 Constitution. Finally, this course will tell the students about the contemporary problems of constitutional government in Turkey.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

Upon the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• tell the history of constitution-making and constitutionalism in Turkey

• compare the several constitutions in Turkey within a historical perspective

• describe the founding principles of the 1982 Constitution

• analyze the basic provisions of the 1982 Constitution

• interpret the notions of democracy, rule of law, the welfare state, human rights, secularism, and equality as stipulated by the 1982 Constitution

• describe the executive-legislative relation according to the 1982 Constitution

COURSE OUTLINE

A full outline of the course syllabus can be found here.

Please note that there will be a preparatory meeting that will take place during the usual class hours one week before the class starts. In this meeting, we will introduce you how the platform works and we will offer technical support so that everybody is technically ready for the first session.

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Melike Belkıs Aydın was born in Istanbul in 1984. In 2013, she completed her postgraduate studies at the Social Sciences Faculty of Anadolu University with the thesis “The Results of Artificial Insemination Techniques in Terms of Pedigree Law and Personality Rights”. Her doctoral dissertation dealt with a “Hermeneutic Approach to Law: Philosophical Hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer” and was submitted successfully in 2019. In September 2019, her position at the Anadolu University Law Faculty was terminated in an unlawful manner. Her short story book “Pembe Kızıl’ won the Türkan Saylan Sanat Prize in 2016.

Dr. İlker Gökhan Şen continues to work on the topics of direct democracy, comparative constitutional law, history and law of Turkish constitutions, human rights, and democracy education. He has published books and articles in English and Turkish around these issues. In his research, he applies an interdisciplinary approach. As one of the signatories to the “Academics for Peace” petition, Şen was dispelled from his position at the Eskişehir Anadolu University Law Faculty by the Turkish government in 2017. Currently, Dr. Şen lives in Halen Bergen, Norway where he works as a research fellow at Chr. Michelsen Institute.

This course takes place with the coordination of Dr. İlker Gökhan Şen (Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen Norway).

This course is hosted by the Chair of Turkish Studies, Institute of Near and Middle Eastern Studies at LMU Munich and funded by Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation.