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TURKEY'S DEMOCRACY IN THE 1990s:A RETROSPECTIVE AND PROSPECTIYE VIEWDr. Ali KAZANC1GİL*The democratization of Turkey has been a cyclical process, alternatingexpanding cycles (1946-54; 1961-70; 1983-92) and regressive cycles(1955-60; 1971-80; 1993-?). The country vvas under military rule in1960-61, 1971-73 and 1980-83. This paper vvill first describe, briefly, thelatest and stili on-going regressive period. It vvill, then, analyze some ofthe long-term features of the Turkish polity, vvhich may help in understandingthe up and dovvns of Turkish democracy. Finally, it vvill considerthe prospects and conditions for a sustainable democratization process.A DECADE OF DEMOCRATİC REGRESSIONThe 1990s vvill not be remembered as a particularly favourable periodfor Turkish democracy. Early in the decade, the 1991 general electionsvvere held in a climate of optimism about the democratic regime's chancesof consolidation and its ability to cope vvith majör challenges such asthe Kurdish question, political islam and socio-economic reforms. Thenightmarish second half of the 1970s, during vvhich the governmentshelplessly vvatched the country sink into a quasi-civil vvar, the 1980 coupd'Etat and the ensuing equally disturbing three long years of militaryrule, vvere left behind. As of 1983, the democracy had gradually recovered.By 1991, it looked as if the elimination of non-democratic featuresvvere a serious possibility. After ali, such an outcome vvould have beenvvell-deserved, given the strong determination shovvn by the nation tobuild a democracy through a long democratic transition, vvhich had startedvvith the introduction of multipartism in 1946, and the first free electionsin 1950, vvhich savv the victory of the opposition.The optimistic mood soon changed and a spiral of democratic regressionset in. Despite the progress democratization had made since 1983,the legacy of the military regime vvas stili there. The left vvas permanentlydisabled, the trade unions, professional organizations, and other civil so-* Director, UNESCO, Paris.231