Modern Turkey by Bill Park (review)

The view of Turkey as both a literal and figurative bridge between the East and the West has long been a theme in academia, politics, and the media. The bridge metaphor is a natural and apt starting point for any discussion on contemporary Turkey, which is physically located at the crossroads of civilizations, carries oil and gas from the energy-rich Middle East and Caucuses to fuel-hungry European markets, and has a foreign identity split among its North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership, European Union aspirations, and arguably neo-Ottoman regional engagement. Bill Park’s Modern Turkey looks at this characterization through the lens of globalization, viewing today’s Turkey as transformed by global dynamics, but also actively participating in globalization, from state-centric high politics to independent social movements. Modern Turkey successfully utilizes a range of case studies to provide a thorough yet digestible presentation of how the nation has negotiated the turbulent years since its inception, emphasizing that Turkey’s place in the world is not as defined or concrete as the label bridge might at first glance imply.

Park begins by setting the conceptual stage for the book, defining his approach to the oft-contested notion of globalization. Opting for a more constructivist approach, the author emphasizes the “multiplicity of linkages and interconnections” and contested space associated with a globalized world, exemplifying globalization as multilayered and multidirectional, an unpredictable process of hybridization rather than one of linear progression. Having laid the foundation, Park provides a comprehensive background briefing on the Kemalist legacy and Kemalism and state security that allows the text to be not only accessible but also stimulating to those without previous background knowledge of Turkey. These chapters place Turkey historically as well as geostrategically, exploring the critical duality of Turkey’s orientation, shifting between regional relations and ties to Europe and the United States.

With the reader sufficiently grounded in the historical and contextual environment, Park addresses a critical driver to Turkey’s modernization, EU accession, in the aptly titled chapter “Turkey’s Europeanization: A Journey without an Arrival?” Having previously introduced the “Sèvres complex” as critical in pushing Turkey to embrace Westernization, Park provides a complete overview of the arduous, and ongoing, EU accession process, replete with the necessary talk of norms, commissions, and progress reports. With full acknowledgment of the regularly shifting goalposts of membership, the text’s presentation of the critical challenges and deficiencies that Turkey must address is fair. Cyprus, the role of the military in politics, human rights, and an assortment of other areas for improvement within Turkey all are given a reasonable treatment.

However, lacking in the chapter is a full exploration into the European dynamics stalling the membership process. Modern Turkey’s focus on the Turkish elements of EU accession is understandable given the wide scope of the work, but glazing over the European dimensions, the discussion places undue onus on the “root of the problem,” misrepresenting the true complexity of the issue. While Park does introduce the concept of Turkophobia, its description is tempered and brief, and furthermore there is little recognition of even the simplest issue of power dynamics associated with accepting a country of nearly 73 million into a union of just over 500 million, let alone the myriad other roadblocks forestalling the process. Focusing primarily on Turkish deficiencies rather than on the shared accountability for the obstacles to Turkish EU accession detracts from the larger presentation of globalization as multilayered and multidirectional.

The book continues to unfold in a somewhat oddly arranged but intriguing set of case studies into how Turkey has engaged with and has been transformed by globalization. Covering Turkey’s economic reforms and relationship with international and regional economic institutions, foreign policy developments, energy issues, Turkish migration, the contentious relationship with the Kurdish and Armenian communities, and the Gulen movement, these diverse portraits all feed into the larger theme of the text, one that sees modern Turkey as a “vessel” or “echo chamber” that externally reflects and domestically...