Turkey’s Local Responses to Globalization: The Emergence of New Actors as State-Level Security Threats

This paper aims to challenge the scope of security problems in Turkey, emerged by globalization process and the integration into global networks. More precisely, the goal is to show that after globalization, the threat perception has changed because globalization aimed to reduce state level security problems; however, its nature caused the threat of the internally rising minor groups. The working hypothesis is that if the Turkish state develops a people-based policy to make citizens more active in policy making process, it seems more possible to cope with state-level security challenges of globalization. Accordingly, the paper is divided into three sections. In the first section, this paper briefly explains the early effects of globalization process and the responses by Turkey, within the context of the debates over the minimization of the state, privatization and restructuring the state. In the second section, it is introduced that the emergence of new actors, who change the previous understanding of the benevolent state, as reflection of globalization on Turkey has led to the new interpretation of security and domestic threats. In the third section, alternative solutions to the security challenges proceeded from globalization in Turkey are discussed in order to enable Turkey to pass through this process with minimum injury.