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Turkey made the transition from a military to a civilian government in 1980-83. The influence of the European Community and the Council of Europe were important external stimulants in this transition. Amnesty International joined these organizations in complaining about human rights in democracy in a militarily-ruled Turkey. With the concern about human rights, Turkey's internal political situation became an issue in relations with Europe. Turkey's need to maintain its long-established history of connections with the West were the basis for the European influence., Turkey has a history of military interventions and transitions to democracy. The recurrence of intervention and transition to democracy seems to justify the view that the Turkish military is committed [...]

The issues of human rights and democratization have in recent years emerged as significant aspects of Turkey-European Union relations, This can be seen as a change in the traditional pattern [...]