Uygar Uluslarca Kabul Edilmiş Haliyle Hukukun Genel Prensipleri: Avrupa Merkezci Uluslararası Hukuk

Abstract

International law today profoundly influences national law and, consequently, the politics, economy, social structures, etc., of countries. Therefore, when contemplating national matters, it becomes an unavoidable necessity to also consider the international dimension. Accordingly, to shed light on the global and national problems that Turkey is currently facing by analyzing world politics and its present state of crisis, we need to firmly grasp international law—its history, structure, functioning, and foundations. Recent events in regions such as Azerbaijan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Egypt, as well as ongoing situations in Ukraine and Palestine, particularly reinforce the importance of this necessity. However, Eurocentric ideology is one of the biggest obstacles to our efforts to understand and comprehend this. On one hand, it leads to the controversial construction of international law and related national institutions, rules, and structures. On the other hand, by perpetuating this controversial construction, it both causes the reproduction of the Eurocentric (and thus debatable) construct of international law and, by ensuring its legitimacy, preemptively eliminates objections that might be directed at it. Therefore, addressing Eurocentric international law first requires addressing Eurocentric ideology. The first part of this study is devoted to analyzing Eurocentric ideology for this purpose. Accordingly, a definition of Eurocentric ideology is first provided, followed by a critique of its historical construct—which has permeated all areas of social sciences—by presenting an alternative perspective. In the second part of the study, in line with this alternative historical approach, it begins with a section discussing how the history of inter-state law is not exclusively being under the monopoly of Westerners. Subsequent sections examine the material conditions foundational to Western-supremacist international law and the Eurocentric ideological concepts derived from these conditions. The study concludes by analyzing the Eurocentric international law concretized in the term “principles of law recognized by civilized nations” in Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (and in Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights) through its emphasis on “civilized nations.”