After this introductory section, the book unfolds into four thematic parts which
consist of chapters anchored to the overarching theme of the relevant part.
The first part is entitled ‘Environmental Law in Turkey.’ Chapters in this part
provide a historical perspective and general understanding of the legal settings of
Turkish Environmental Law.
In the first chapter, ‘Development Process of Environmental Law in Turkey:
The EU Impact’, Zerrin Savaşan argues that although gradual changes occurred
during the republican era which started in 1923, the main wave of change has
occurred within the context of Turkey’s prospective membership of the European
Union.
Savaşan divides the development of Turkey’s environmental law into five
stages: (1) Pre-1982 Constitution period, (2) From 1982 Constitution to the EU
candidacy (1999), (3) From EU candidacy (1999) to accession country status
(2005), (4) From accession country status (2005) to the opening of the chapter on
environment (2009), (5) The opening of the chapter on environment (2009) and
onwards.
She argues that the EU conditionality strategy indeed plays the most important
role in developing environmental law and policies in the country, but that the EU
impetus has been lost, particularly after the opening of accession negotiations in
October 2005, which brought stagnation to the reform process in Turkey’s environmental legislation. Thereafter, the EU-style of policy-making has still been
partly implemented in practice through EU-induced learning processes, so there is
at least some minor evolution in the field. Yet, the real challenge in Turkey’s
environmental law is not related to the transposition of new (generally European)
legislation but rather to proper implementation of it; and Turkey’s recent situation,
which is mostly dominated by hotly disputed political, economic and security
issues, does not provide a proper arena to discuss and handle with such things.
In ‘Drawing a General Framework for Turkish Environmental Law’, presented
by Zerrin Savaşan, the author sketches a general framework of Turkish
Environmental Law based on a general assessment of the Turkish legal system’s
different branches under both private law (civil law, obligations law) and public law
(constitutional law, international law, administrative law, criminal law) with their
fundamental features concerning environmental issues. Based on her analysis, she
concludes that the protection of environment under Turkish Environmental Law is
dominantly regulated under public law, significantly by administrative law. Even
though remarkable progress has been made, particularly through the impact of the
EU accession process in recent years, further development is still required, not only
in terms of legislation but also of implementation, compliance and enforcement.
More importantly, it requires further academic study with more detailed legal
analyses of each branch to demonstrate the achievements, shortcomings and future
prospects of each branch with regard to environmental issues. Such analyses should
also be supported by studies in the fields of compliance, implementation,
enforcement and case-law, and by comparative analyses on different legal systems
of different countries.
1 Introduction
3
consist of chapters anchored to the overarching theme of the relevant part.
The first part is entitled ‘Environmental Law in Turkey.’ Chapters in this part
provide a historical perspective and general understanding of the legal settings of
Turkish Environmental Law.
In the first chapter, ‘Development Process of Environmental Law in Turkey:
The EU Impact’, Zerrin Savaşan argues that although gradual changes occurred
during the republican era which started in 1923, the main wave of change has
occurred within the context of Turkey’s prospective membership of the European
Union.
Savaşan divides the development of Turkey’s environmental law into five
stages: (1) Pre-1982 Constitution period, (2) From 1982 Constitution to the EU
candidacy (1999), (3) From EU candidacy (1999) to accession country status
(2005), (4) From accession country status (2005) to the opening of the chapter on
environment (2009), (5) The opening of the chapter on environment (2009) and
onwards.
She argues that the EU conditionality strategy indeed plays the most important
role in developing environmental law and policies in the country, but that the EU
impetus has been lost, particularly after the opening of accession negotiations in
October 2005, which brought stagnation to the reform process in Turkey’s environmental legislation. Thereafter, the EU-style of policy-making has still been
partly implemented in practice through EU-induced learning processes, so there is
at least some minor evolution in the field. Yet, the real challenge in Turkey’s
environmental law is not related to the transposition of new (generally European)
legislation but rather to proper implementation of it; and Turkey’s recent situation,
which is mostly dominated by hotly disputed political, economic and security
issues, does not provide a proper arena to discuss and handle with such things.
In ‘Drawing a General Framework for Turkish Environmental Law’, presented
by Zerrin Savaşan, the author sketches a general framework of Turkish
Environmental Law based on a general assessment of the Turkish legal system’s
different branches under both private law (civil law, obligations law) and public law
(constitutional law, international law, administrative law, criminal law) with their
fundamental features concerning environmental issues. Based on her analysis, she
concludes that the protection of environment under Turkish Environmental Law is
dominantly regulated under public law, significantly by administrative law. Even
though remarkable progress has been made, particularly through the impact of the
EU accession process in recent years, further development is still required, not only
in terms of legislation but also of implementation, compliance and enforcement.
More importantly, it requires further academic study with more detailed legal
analyses of each branch to demonstrate the achievements, shortcomings and future
prospects of each branch with regard to environmental issues. Such analyses should
also be supported by studies in the fields of compliance, implementation,
enforcement and case-law, and by comparative analyses on different legal systems
of different countries.
1 Introduction
3