Annals of Japan Association for Middle East Studies

Quantitative Analysis about Mobilized Voting Behavior of Eastern Turkey : Reexamination of the "Modernization School" and the "School of Ethnicity"

Koichi ARAI

Article type: Article
2008 Volume 24 Issue 2 Pages 1-27
Published: February 25, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24498/ajames.24.2_1

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Exceptional voting behavior observed in eastern Turkey has caused a controversy between the "modernization school" and the "school of ethnicity." In the 1970s, Hale, Ozbudun, and Sayari argued that socioeconomic development would resolve this tendency. After 1990, the influence of ethnic minorities on this tendency has been argued by Natsume, Hazama, and Carkoglu. In this article, I reexamined the cause of the exceptional voting behavior in controversy, using quantitative analysis and focusing on the elections of the 1990s and 2002 in southeastern Anatolia. The number of votes obtained by the pro-Kurdish party obtained only in urban areas where speakers of Kurdish are in a majority, and a pro-Kurdish party was negative to blocked voting. This means that differences of ethnicity have substantial influence only in cities. On the other hand, independent candidates were often elected and blocked voting happened frequently in eastern Turkey after 1991. This means there was mobilized voting behavior after 1991 in spite of development by the Southeastern Anatolia Project and participation of the pro-Kurdish party. Because of mobilized voting behavior and a political party based on ethnicity, fragmentation of the political party system in Turkey will continue.

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The Present-day Nevruz Festival in Turkey : From Celebration of the Equinox to a Battlefield of Ethnicity

Hiroki WAKAMATSU

Article type: Article
2008 Volume 24 Issue 2 Pages 29-59
Published: February 25, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24498/ajames.24.2_29

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Nevruz is a spring festival celebrated the world over and particularly in Eastern Muslim countries, including Iran and Turkey. It was for a long time commemorated by Ottoman society as a regular cultural festival, but the practice gradually changed since the late 1980s, when Kurdish nationalist movements arose. To put it briefly, the Nevruz festival, which was a normal cultural festival until then, was now transformed into a battlefield of ethnic self-assertion in Turkey. In this article I intend discussing the practical aspects of Nevruz in contemporary Turkey by utilizing primary sources like daily newspapers, by the observation of the Nevruz practices, and through interviews that I conducted during my field research

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Slaves and Their Descriptions at the Mamluk Period : Comparison of the Thousand and One Nights, Rihla and al-Ta'liq

Manami HATO

Article type: Article
2008 Volume 24 Issue 2 Pages 61-93
Published: February 25, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24498/ajames.24.2_61

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This paper is a study of slaves and their descriptions during the Mamluk period, based on the following three sources: Alf Layla wa Layla, a large volume of anonymous stories well-known in Middle Eastern society (also known as the Arabian Nighs and the thousnad and One Nights); the travel journal known as Rihla Ibn Battuta; and the chronicle al-Ta'liq (meaning miscellaneous remarks). Throughout the history of Middle Eastern society, little has been known about slaves other than military slaves. Scarce attention has been paid to the topic of other slaves. But Middle Eastern society had many slaves, not only military but also domestic slaves. We need a comprehensive study of all kinds of slaves to understand the role of slaves. I present the following conclusions. The three sources under study reveal both similarities and differences with regard to the character of slaves. They found a variety of slaves in terms of their origin, work, and social relations, which caused ambiguities of each term differing in the sources. Second, the relationship between master and slave was very strong, which is reflected clearly in Alf Layla wa Layla, Rihla and also in al-Ta'liq, a chronicle. Third, the slaves, as un-differentiated and borderless, could play an important role in such a society.

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Accounting for the 'Moderation' of Political Islam in the Middle East : Internal vs. External Factors Examined

Gül M. Kurtoğlu-Eskişar

Article type: Research Note
2008 Volume 24 Issue 2 Pages 95-126
Published: February 25, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24498/ajames.24.2_95

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Following the rising number of Islamist terrorist attacks, the evolution of political Islamist groups has attracted increasing attention from scholars and policymakers alike. A particular focus of interest has been on the moderation of some of the movements or organizations, including political parties in time. Based on examples drawn from Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Turkey, this study aims to compare some of the leading external and internal factors that can account for such change. The concluding findings, it argues, can be instructive to the ongoing democratization efforts led by the western world on the region. On a theoretical level, it also aims to contribute to the body of literature that discusses the impact of international vs. domestic elements on democratization.

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Ali Çarkoğlu and Ersin Kalaycıoğlu, Turkish Democracy: Elections, Protest and Stability in an Islamic Society, London: I.B. Tauris, 2007, 256pp.

Masaki KAKIZAKI

Article type: Book Review
2008 Volume 24 Issue 2 Pages 127-132
Published: February 25, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24498/ajames.24.2_127

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JAMES Activities 2008

Keiko SAKAI

Article type: Middle East Studies in Japan
2008 Volume 24 Issue 2 Pages 133-158
Published: February 25, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24498/ajames.24.2_133

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