Comparative Law Studies in Turkey
This article aims to describe and evaluate the academic studies conducted in Turkey within the scope of comparative law. For more than a century since the late Ottoman period, the comparative law studies in Turkey have largely followed the patterns of western scholarship and agenda. Especially in the Republican period, scholars have focused on comparisons at a micro-level with the regulations of certain Western countries due to an intellectual and ideological confinement resulting from the impact of the so-called legal revolution and legal reception. In reality, the reason why the education and printed publications in this field is weak is largely due to the prevailing political authorities and legal scholars have found comparative law studies at a macro level unnecessary and even disturbing. While some comparative scholarship of law has developed in the theology faculties after 1980, they have also remained largely at a micro level lacking the macro-level analysis needed to cover the legal sciences, legal traditions and the legal systems of different religions and civilizations.
TUNCAY BAŞOĞLU
