CONCEPTUAL EXPANSIONS OF SELF-DETERMINATION OF PEOPLES: FROM INDEPENDENCE OF COLONIAL TERRITORIES TO RIGHT OF DEMOCRACY FOR ALL

If the reason of many conflicts in the world politics is scrutinized, majority of them rooted in self-determination. The conceptual transformation of the principle of self-determination could be studied in three historic periods. First, it aimed to legitimize the independence of new states which were created of defeated and collapsed empires in the aftermath of First World War. But after the Second World War, it indicated to the independence of colonized and occupied territories. In the third phase and after 1970th, the principle of self-determination indicates to democracy in overall societies and rights of minorities. The international law by emphasizing to the principles of territorial integrity and non-interference in domestic affairs, a solution which both respects to territorial integrity of states and materializes the self - determinations of ethnic and communal minorities, first it stipulates realizing democracy in overall society, if this was not helpful, it recommends giving territorial and cultural autonomy to minorities. Nowadays, self-determination has close relation to democracy and human rights. In this paper, the historical evolution of the concept of self-determination is analyzed.