An Evaluation of The Secession Demands of The Catalans in The Context of The Self-Determination Concept

Abstract

While self-determination, an essential and controversial concept in the international relations literature, is regarded as a tool for gaining autonomy by various communities in the most general sense, it is interpreted as being an independent state by others. In the recent period, the Catalans have been the community that most strongly expressed their demands for selfdetermination based on secession in the European continent. Their self-determination demands, which had begun along with the demands for autonomy of Catalonia, a region in Spain, turned into a demand for separation in the historical process. This study aims to examine the demands of the Catalans, up to their desire for secession, in the context of the self-determination concept, after revealing the conceptual framework of self-determination. In other words, the study focuses on the controversial aspects of the self-determination concept and aims to address the Catalans’ demands for secession within the framework of the self-determination concept.