M.A. Thesis Defense: Buğra Güngör (CONF MA)
We cordially invite you to
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Master of Arts Thesis Defense of Buğra Güngör (Conflict Analysis and Resolution).
WHEN CHOOSERS BECAME PERPETRATORS: DETERMINANTS OF PRE-ELECTORAL VIOLENCE ON THE PEOPLES’ DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRIOR TO THE JUNE 2015 GENERAL ELECTION IN TURKEY
Thesis Jury:
- Assist. Prof. Arzu Kıbrıs(Thesis advisor)
- Assist. Prof. Kerim Can Kavaklı
- Assoc. Prof. Şener Aktürk (Koç University, International Relations)
Date & Time : July 25, 2016 & 13:00
Place: Sabancı University, Karaköy Minerva Han
Keywords: Election violence, Kurdish issue in Turkey, the spatial variation of violence, ethnic conflict.
This study empirically analyzes the spatial variation of pre-electoral attacks on the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a pro-Kurdish opposition party, prior to the June 2015 general election in Turkey. Using different news sources, this research employs a unique media-based pre-electoral violence dataset which focuses on the hard facts of the news on the pre-electoral attacks against the HDP between February 1 st and June 7 th 2015. I develop a theoretical foundation for the empirical investigation of my study to demonstrate why some provinces experienced more attacks vis-à- vis others based on the electoral, historical and socio-economic determinants of attacks. To this end, the spatial variation of attacks on the HDP is explained by the factors that facilitate participation in these attacks. The results show that spatial variation across the provinces can be explained to a great extent by the following provincial characteristics: lower vote shares between the AKP and HDP, higher security force casualties, higher urbanization rates and higher vote shares of Turkish nationalist parties are conducive to the outbreak of pre-electoral attacks on the HDP, whereas lower levels of economic activity, higher unemployment rates, and significant Kurdish populations did not produce statistically significant results at the province level.