TÜRKİYE IN THE 1990s: CENTRALIZATION, SECURITIZATION AND FINANCIALIZATION

Date

2025-4

Author

Değirmencioğlu, Kadir Özhan

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This study provides a macro perspective on Türkiye in the 1990s by examining governance, security, and finance as interrelated processes. It addresses the fundamental question of why the decade was marked by persistent instability, violence, and crises. Rather than attributing these crises to political actors or market failures alone, the study argues that a threefold crisis-producing mechanism—Centralization, Securitization, and Financialization—emerged from the state restructuring process initiated in the 1980s. This transformation created contradictions between old and new governance methods, leading to structural misalignments. The study posits that, contrary to neoliberal expectations, the Turkish state did not shrink; instead, it intensified its administrative capacity in specific areas. In the realm of Centralization, the state expanded its authority rather than reducing bureaucracy, as seen in the State of Emergency Regional Governorship and the Southeastern Anatolia Project. In Securitization, the state's increasing reliance on its monopoly on violence led to greater informality and arbitrariness, exemplified by the State Security Courts, the Anti-Terror Law, and the Village Guard System. In Financialization, the banking system became a focal point of economic instability, with institutions like the Central Bank and the Treasury Undersecretariat unable to regulate the deregulated financial sector, leading to failed privatization attempts. These three processes, rather than functioning as coordinated mechanisms, negatively reinforced each other, creating a fragmented and dysfunctional governance structure. The contradictions inherent in these dynamics prevented the state from operating effectively, ultimately escalating political instability. This crisis trajectory culminated in the 1999-2001 period, marking the collapse of this structural configuration. This study contributes to the academic literature by providing a holistic analysis of the 1990s, a period often studied through isolated crises rather than systemic dynamics. By shifting the focus from individual political actors or short-term instability to the structural contradictions embedded in state mechanisms, this research offers a new perspective on the underlying.

Subject Keywords

1990s, Turkish Politics, Centralization, Securitization, Financialization.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/114510

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis