Negative Perceptions of Jews in Turkish Politics: An Analysis of Parliamentary Debates, 1983-2016

ABSTRACT

What are the political roots of anti-Jewish rhetoric? To address this ever-important query, this study analyses perceptions of Jews in Turkish politics. Building on group position theory and the historical background of Turkish-Jewish relations, the research proposes that right-wing ideological orientation and perceived threats can predict negative perceptions of Jews. It scrutinises the Turkish parliamentary proceedings using quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The findings support the premise. The study concludes that discussing perceived threats tends to evoke negative rhetoric while right-wing ideological orientation seems to be a predictive factor for the expression of such views. This implies that an effective management of perceived threats would reduce the frequency of anti-Jewish statements in Turkish politics.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-Semitism
• Members of Parliament
• political parties
• group position theory
• Sèvres syndrome
• Turkey

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to the research funding from Brasenose College at the University of Oxford, which provided the opportunity to develop this study for publication. I would also like to thank Mr Ari Sekeryan, my research assistant, for his help. This article also greatly benefited from the valuable comments of the journal’s two anonymous reviewers and the Editors of South European Society and Politics.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This refers to Israeli settlements, inhabited almost exclusively by Jewish citizens of Israel and are established mainly on Palestinian lands that are occupied by the Israeli Army since the Six-Day War in 1967.

2. The Al-Aqsa Intifada refers to the Palestinian uprising against Israel. It began following Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount Complex in 2000, the site of the Dome of Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, before his election as the prime minister of Israel. Palestinians perceived this as a provocation, because the Al-Aqsa Mosque is considered a holy site for Muslims.

3. The incident occurred after the death of pro-Palestinian activists, including Turkish citizens, as a result of a military operation by Israel against a Turkish owned civilian ship, Mavi Marmara, in the Mediterranean Sea. It resulted in a diplomatic tension between Turkey and Israel.

4. This refers to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during the Israeli Defence Force’s Operation Protective Edge in 2014. The BBC NEWS (2015) reported that 67 Israeli soldiers and six civilians were dead, and 1462 civilians were among the total losses of 2251 people on the Palestinian side.

5. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 18, Legislative Year 1, Sitting 16 (02.02.1988), p. 55.

6. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 32 (10.11.1994), p. 198.

7. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 21, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 73 (22.03.2001), p. 240.

8. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 17, Legislative Year 1, Sitting 71 (29.05.1984), p. 87.

9. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 142 (18.07.1995), p. 337.

10. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 49 (27.01.2009), p. 699.

11. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 40 (06.01.2009), p. 67.

12. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 109 (01.06.2010), p. 19.

13. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 122 (21.07.2014), p. 80.

14. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 5, Sitting 26 (11.12.2014), p. 15.

15. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 1, Sitting 89 (26.06.1992), p. 198.

16. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 51 (24.12.1992), p. 411.

17. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 1, Sitting 59 (23.03.1992), p. 271.

18. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 1, Sitting 57 (21.03.1992), p. 78.

19. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 20, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 96 (02.06.1998), p. 45.

20. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 21, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 49 (25.01.2001), p. 8.

21. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 79 (03.03.1994), p. 384.

22. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 26, Legislative Year 1, Sitting 25 (07.01.2016), p. 4.

23. The Dersim massacre refers to the Turkish military operations in 1937–38 in the Dersim region, now called Tunceli, which resulted in a high death toll of rebellious Kurdish tribes and civilians.

24. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 46 (20.12.2012), p. 42.

25. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 84 (28.03.2012), p. 693.

26. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 50 (20.12.1993), p. 705.

27. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 73 (22.03.2005), p. 16.

28. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 116 (23.06.2005), p. 665.

29. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 65 (14.02.2008), p. 31.

30. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 120 (07.06.1995), p. 95.

31. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 120 (07.06.1995), p. 91.

32. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 55 (29.01.2008), p. 167.

33. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 67 (20.02.2008), p. 25.

34. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 67 (20.02.2008), p. 25.

35. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 21, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 125 (02.08.2002), p. 78.

36. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 23, Legislative Year 2, Sitting 64 (13.02.2008), p. 55.

37. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 1, Sitting 86 (23.06.1992), p. 197.

38. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 19, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 50 (22.12.1994), p. 694.

39. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 22, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 11 (25.10.2005), p. 50.

40. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 3, Sitting 26 (20.11.2012), p. 561.

41. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 5, Sitting 21 (02.12.2014), p. 636.

42. TBMM, Tutanak Dergisi, Term 24, Legislative Year 4, Sitting 56 (04.02.2014), p. 52.

Additional information

Funding

The study was made possible by a Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellowship grant. It has also benefited from a research award of Brasenose College, University of Oxford.

Notes on contributors

Türkay Salim Nefes

Dr Türkay Salim Nefes is a William Golding Junior Research Fellow at Brasenose College, University of Oxford. He is the author of Online Anti-Semitism in Turkey (Palgrave, 2015) and various journal articles. His research is available online at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tuerkay_Nefes/research