Legislative war powers in time: a historical institutionalist approach to the Turkish Parliament's weight on foreign policy making

On 1 March 2003, the Turkish government's war power motion failed in Parliament even though most legislators had voted in favour of it, keeping Turkey out of the war in Iraq. This outcome reflected the anti-war sentiment among the Turkish public but confounded Turkish-American relations. The Turkish case shows that, contrary to one of the main assertations of the actor-specific perspectives, parliaments can play an important role in foreign policy decision making. How can Turkish legislative war powers be explained? This study argues that the distinct position of the Parliament can best be analysed by exploring the historical evolution of war powers across the constitutions since the late Ottoman period, focusing on several critical junctures during a long path that turned Parliament into a key veto player in foreign policy making, capable of frustrating the executive's intention to join a war.