Turkey’s Human Rights Trajectory until 2002

This chapter traces the evolution of human rights in Turkey from the foundation of the Republic through to the AKP’s rise in 2002, identifying key ruptures and continuities across four political periods. Drawing on a neo-Gramscian framework, it examines how human rights were shaped by domestic hegemonic struggles and external pressures, particularly from European actors. The chapter explores the authoritarian foundations of the early Republic, the impact of repeated military interventions, and the gradual liberalization and Europeanization processes that gained traction in the late 1990s. It argues that by 2002, Turkey had entered a moment of conditional opening, with human rights increasingly tied to EU accession dynamics. This historical grounding sets the stage for understanding both the promises and contradictions of the AKP’s human rights agenda in the following years.