An Essay on the Relation between Democracy and the Modern State: The Case of Turkey1
Dr. Fatih Duman, Dr. Ismail Seyrek

Abstract
On the one hand this paper deals with the definitions and historical developments of the modern state and the concept of democracy, and their interactions in terms of democratization of the modern state. On the another hand the paper analyses the historical developments of the democratic movement in Turkey in relation to the traditional state which has been surviving from the early Ottoman times to the young republic and so on. The paper claims that there have been a struggles to protect the classical structure of the traditional state in Turkey against civil demands for a liberal democratic state in general and basic human rights and freedoms in particular. Furthermore it is clear that the democratization of the state in Turkey has been taking place in terms of new regulations with respect to the values of liberal democratic state and the human rights and freedoms.

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