PhD Dissertation Defense: İpek Demirsu

THE BALANCING OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND COUNTER-TERRORISM: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TURKEY AND THE UK

by Ipek Demirsu

Ph.D in Political Science, 2015

Thesis Jury

Meltem Müftüler-Baç (Thesis supervisor), Brooke Luetgert, Ateş Altınordu,

 Ayşe Kadıoğlu, Bahar Rumelili

Date& Time: February 19th, 2015 – 13.30

Place: FASS 5054

Key Words: human rights, counter-terrorism, securitization, exceptionalism

One of the most salient manifestations of the age-old tension in international politics between international norms versus security concerns is nowadays evidently conveyed in the tense relationship between human rights and counter-terrorism. While commitment to human rights became a benchmark of legitimate state conduct in contemporary politics, the fight against terrorism particularly in the post-9/11 era has given way to contentious practices that tend to undermine long established democratic values. At this juncture, this research investigates how state actors balance the often contradictory entailments of counter-terrorism and human rights. Given that the relationship between discourse and policy of counter-terrorism is a mutually constitutive process, the study undertakes a multi-method qualitative research composed of a comparative policy analysis as well as frame analysis of parliamentary debates in the context of Turkey and the UK. The study argues that in an attempt to by-pass human rights obligations state actors securitize areas of political life replacing them beyond the boundaries of normal politics by invoking a sense of exceptionalism. The institutionalization of the state of exception in the long-run brings grave ramifications for the status of human rights and the functioning of democracy.