NATIONAL SECURITY LAW AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN TURKEY

This article argues that Türkiye’s national security governance is legally fragmented across counter-terrorism, intelligence, digital surveillance and emergency regimes, producing deficits in legal certainty, accountability and rights protection. Using comparative doctrinal analysis of the United States (USA PATRIOT Act), the United Kingdom (Investigatory Powers Act 2016; National Security Act 2023) and the European Union’s fundamental-rights and data-protection standards, it develops a blueprint for a holistic National Security Law (NSL) for Türkiye. The proposed design combines a narrow and justiciable threat definition, a tiered powers architecture (ordinary times/escalating risk/state of emergency), mandatory reporting to Parliament, independent oversight, and strengthened judicial authorisation. It embeds end-to-end safeguards for surveillance and data processing, data minimisation, retention limits, audit trails, delayed notification and effective remedies, while constraining emergency powers through strict time limits, qualified-majority extensions and sunset clauses. Drawing on Foucault’s panopticism and Agamben’s “state of exception”, the article explains how vague security norms can generate chilling effects, weaken legitimacy and depress civic participation. It concludes that a rights-consistent NSL can improve security effectiveness and public trust, and address climate/disaster-related risks without securitising environmental civic space.