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Abstract:
This paper examines the transformation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s politics in the AKP government era through the interactive supply-and-demand relationship between populist leaders and their supporters, which has been a focus of recent populist studies. It employs the concept of ‘the politics of belonging’ to scrutinize the mechanisms through which not only the Islamic and conservative boundary of belonging in Turkey but also the meanings of symbols reifying belonging are established and negotiated in response to Erdoğan’s shifting populist methods.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank M. Hakan Yavuz and the other participants of the workshop held at the University of Utah on April 1, 2019, for their comments, which aided greatly in developing this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Hakkı Taş (Citation2015) Turkey: From Tutelary to Delegative Democracy, Third World Quarterly, 36(4), pp. 776-791; Bahar Başer & Ahmet E. Öztürk (2017) Authoritarian Politics in Turkey: Elections, Resistance and the AKP (London: I. B. Tauris).
2 M. Hakan Yavuz & Ahmet E. Öztürk (Citation2019) Turkish Secularism and Islam under the Reign of Erdoğan, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 19(1), pp. 5–6.
3 M. Hakan Yavuz (Citation2019) Understanding Turkish Secularism in the 21st Century: A Contextual Roadmap, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 19(1), p. 18.
4 M. Hakan Yavuz & Nihat A. Ozcan (2019) 2019 Elections in Turkey: End of the Erdoğan Era? Middle East Policy, 26(2), pp. 85–94.
5 Cas Mudde & Cristóbal R. Kaltwasser (2017) Populism: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press), pp. 97–118.
6 Roger Eatwell & Matthew Goodwin (2018) National Populism: The Revolt against Liberal Democracy (London: Penguin Books); Mudde & Kaltwasser Populism; Jan-Werner Mueller (Citation2016) What is Populism (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press); Margaret Canovan (Citation1999) Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy, Political Studies, 47, pp. 2–16.
7 Fumiko Sawae (Citation2017) The Condition of the Post-Kemalist Public Sphere in Turkey, Sophia Journal of Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Studies, 35, pp. 187–188.
8 Doğan Gürpınar (Citation2013) The Reinvention of Kemalism: Between Elitism, Anti-elitism and Anti-intellectualism, Middle Eastern Studies, 49(3), pp. 454–476; Murat Borovalı & Cemil Boyraz (2015) All Quiet on the Kemalist Front? Philosophy and Social Criticism, 41(4/5), pp. 435–444; Shai M. Dromi & Gülay Türkmen (2020) What Does Trauma Have to Do with Politics? Cultural Trauma and the Displaced Founding Political Elites of Israel and Turkey, The Sociological Quarterly, 61(1), pp. 22–41.
9 Ayşe B. Çelik & Evren Balta (2018) Explaining the Micro Dynamics of the Populist Cleavage in the ‘New Turkey,’ Mediterranean Politics, DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2018.1507338, pp. 3–4.
10 BBC Türkçe (2013) Erdoğan: Gezi Parkı Mesajı Alınmıştır [Erdoğan: I got your message about Gezi Park], June 14. Available at:
https://www.bbc.com/turkce/cep/haberler/2013/06/130614_erdogan_gezi.shtml. Accessed September 4, 2019.
11 Raymond Hinnebusch (Citation2014) The Arab Uprisings and the Stalled Transition Process, Mediterranean Yearbook 2014 (Barcelona: IEMed), pp. 17–22.
12 See, for example, Akşam (2013) Erdoğan’dan Gezi Parkı Açıklamaları [Erdoğan’s statement about Gezi Park], June 18. Available at: https://www.aksam.com.tr/siyaset/erdogandan-gezi-parki-aciklamalari/haber-216982. Accessed September 4, 2019.
13 Ahmet E. Öztürk (Citation2019) An Alternative Reading of Religion and Authoritarianism: The New Logic between Religion and State in the AKP’s New Turkey, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 19(1), pp. 87–93.
14 For the changing relationship between the two camps, see M. Hakan Yavuz (Citation2018) A Framework for Understanding the Intra-Islamist Conflict between the AKP and the Gülen Movement, Politics, Religion, and Ideology, 29(1), pp. 11–32; and Hakkı Taş (Citation2018) A History of Turkey’s AKP-Gülen Conflict, Mediterranean Politics, 23(3), pp. 395–402.
15 Jenny White (Citation2017) Spindle Autocracy in the New Turkey, The Brown Journal of World Affairs, 24(1), pp. 23–37.
16 Author interview, Ankara, March 16, 2018.
17 For examples of such efforts by Bülent Arınç, Abdullah Gül, and Ahmet Davutoğlu, see, respectively, Milliyet (2013) Bülent Arınç’tan ‘Gezi Parkı’ Açıklaması [A statement by Bülent Arınç on Gezi Park], June 1, available at http://www.milliyet.com.tr/siyaset/bulent-arinctan-gezi-parki-aciklamasi-1717157, accessed September 4, 2019; Hürriyet (2014) Eğer İnternet Yasasını Veto Etseydim [Why I didn’t veto the Internet Bill], February 24, available at: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/eger-internet-yasasini-veto-etseydim-25879241, accessed September 4, 2019; and Nuray Babacan (Citation2015) Şeffaflık Seçim Sonrasında [Transparency Bill postponed until after the election], Hürriyet, February 6, available at: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ekonomi/seffaflik-secim-sonrasinda-28132653,accessedSeptember4,2019.
18 DW Türkçe (Citation2019) AKP’li Nedim Yamalı: Partide İmtiyazlı Gruplar Var, Aile Yönetimden Çekilmeli [Nedim Yamalı from the AKP: There are privileged groups within the party and the president’s family should not get a position in office], August 6. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xQhJm-2HXU, accessed September 4, 2019.
19 M. Hakan Yavuz (Citation2009) Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 120–135.
20 Artı Gerçek (2018) Milli İrade ile Araya Şerit Çektiler [They placed a cordon between them and the national will], June 10. Available at: https://www.artigercek.com/haberler/milli-irade-ile-araya-serit-cektiler, accessed September 4, 2019.
21 Ahval (2019) Emine Erdoğan 50 Bin Dolarlık Çantasıyla Japonya’da: ‘Bir Yanda Kira Ödeyemediği için İntihar Edenler’ [Emine Erdoğan is in Japan with her $50,000 bag], June 27, available at:http://ahval.co/tr-51729, accessed September 4, 2019.
22 Azmi Ekinci, the vice president of the AKP, shared his criticism about one such event in an interview with the pro-Erdoğan newspaper Star, which deleted the interview from its website the same day it was published; see Independent Türkçe (Citation2019) Star Gazetesinin Yayından Kaldırdığı Röportaj: Vatandaş AK Parti’ye ‘Artık Yönetemiyorsunuz’ Diyor [An interview which was taken off the daily Star: Common people say to the AKP, ‘You cannot govern the country successfully anymore’], May 21, available at https://t.co/4rqzazeZDe, accessed September 4, 2019.
23 Nira Yuval-Davis (Citation2011) The Politics of Belonging: Intersectional Contestations (London: Sage), p. 10.
24 Ibid, pp. 12–13.
25 Ibid, p. 20.
26 Adrian Favell & Andrew Geddes (1999) Introduction, in Andrew Geddes & Adrian Favell (eds) The Politics of Belonging: Migrants and Minorities in Contemporary Europe (Aldershot: Ashgate), p. 11.
27 John Crowley (Citation1999) The Politics of Belonging: Some Theoretical Considerations, in Geddes & Favell, The Politics of Belonging, p. 30 (emphasis in the original).
28 Yavuz, Secularism and Muslim Democracy, pp. 64–71.
29 Hürriyet (Citation1998) Kılıç Paşa’dan Türban Dersi [A headscarf lesson from Kılıç Paşa], June 1.
30 Author interview, Ankara, August 20, 2009.
31 Author interviews, Ankara, August 14-28, 2009.
32 Yael Navaro-Yashin (Citation2002) Faces of the State (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press), p. 27.
33 Ibid, pp. 30–31.
34 Mustafa Aydın, Mitat Çelikpala, Cihan Dizdaroğlu, Banu Baybars-Hawks, Murat Güvenç, Emrah Karaoğuz, Mustafa G. Kösen, & Basri A. Akıncı (2019) Türkiye Sosyal-Siyasal Eğilimler Araştırması – 2018 [Study on socio-political trends in Turkey in – 2018], Istanbul: Kadir Has Üniversitesi Türkiye Araştırmaları Merkezi. Available at http://ctrs.khas.edu.tr/sources/TSSEA-2018-TR.pdf, accessed September 4, 2019.
35 Büşra Cebeci (Citation2019) AKP’li Ailelerin Çocukları Anlatıyor: ‘Babam Beni Reddetmeden Şu Seçim Bitse’ [Children of AKP supporters explain: ‘I hope I can get through this election without being disowned’], Medyascope.TV, June 10. Available at: https://medyascope.tv/2019/06/10/akpli-ailelerin-cocuklari-anlatiyor-babam-beni-reddetmeden-su-secim-bitse/, accessed September 4, 2019.
36 Çilek Ağacı (Citation2019) 2019 İstanbul Yerel Seçimleri [The 2019 Istanbul local elections], June 27. Available at: http://cilekagaci.com/2019/06/27/2019-istanbul-yerel-secimleri/, accessed September 4, 2019.
37 Since the June 2015 elections, all these parties have received swing votes from the AKP. Çilek Ağacı (Citation2015) 2011 ve 2015 Genel Seçimleri Karşılaştırması [Comparisons between the 2011 and 2015 general election results], June 18, available at: http://cilekagaci.com/2015/06/18/2011-ve-2015-genel-secimleri-karsilastirmasi/, accessed September 4, 2019; Çilek Ağacı (Citation2015) Kasım 2015 Seçim Analizi ve Oy Geçişleri [Analysis of the Nov. 2015 election results and the shifts of votes among parties], November 5, available at: http://cilekagaci.com/2015/11/05/kasim-2015-secim-analizi-ve-oy-gecisleri/, accessed September 4, 2019; and Çilek Ağacı (Citation2018) Haziran 2018 Seçim Analizi ve Oy Geçişleri [Analysis of the June 2018 election results and the shifts of votes among parties], June 30, available at: http://cilekagaci.com/2018/06/30/haziran-2018-secim-analizi-ve-oy-gecisleri/, accessed September 4, 2019.
38 One example is an open letter to Erdoğan from the president of Mazlumder, an Islamic human-rights organization. This letter is noteworthy because the president assumed the position after the group’s former leadership cadre, who were critical of Erdoğan, were purged in the spring of 2017. Mazlumder (Citation2019) Cumhurbaşkanı’na Açık Mektup [An open letter to the president], February 22. Available at: http://mazlumder.org/tr/main/faaliyetler/duyurular/19/cumhurbaskanina-acik-mektup/13476, accessed September 4, 2019.
39 For instance, Elif Çakır, a veiled journalist from the newspaper Karar, opted not to write about the February 28 Process around its anniversary in 2018 and 2019.
40 Kemal Öztürk is interesting in this regard as one of only a few Islamic columnists who, while still openly supportive of Erdoğan, overtly has criticized AKP circles for not utilizing their experience of oppression during the February 28 Process to make the Turkish state and politics more democratic and just. See Kemal Öztürk (Citation2019) 28 Şubat: Azınlık Psikolojisiden Çoğunluk Psikolojisine [February 28: From a minority psychology to a majority psychology], Yeni Şafak, February 28. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-VMyQ9XDqw (only the audio version is accessible, as the archive of the text has been deleted from the newspaper’s website), accessed September 4, 2019.
41 Author interview, Ankara, March 21, 2017.
42 This dirty work includes financial and occupational sanctions, such as those reportedly experienced by Karar, a conservative daily established by people dismissed from pro-Erdoğan media outlets. Karar (2018) Kamuoyuna ve okurlarımıza zaruri bir açıklama [An emergency announcement to the public and our readers], November 12. Available at: https://www.karar.com/guncel-haberler/kamuoyuna-ve-okurlarimiza-zaruri-bir-aciklama-1027209, accessed September 11, 2019.
43 Elif Çakır (Citation2019) Bize Ne Oldu Böyle [What happened to us?], Karar, February 22, available at: https://www.karar.com/yazarlar/elif-cakir/bize-ne-oldu-boyle-9341, accessed September 4, 2019; and Nihal B. Karaca (Citation2019) Bu Feryad Bülbül Sesi mi? [Is this outcry the sound of a nightingale?], in Habertürk, February 3, available at: https://www.haberturk.com/yazarlar/nihal-bengisu-karaca/2339803-bu-feryad-bulbul-sesi-mi, accessed September 4, 2019.
44 Ahmet Davutoğlu (Citation2019) Sayın Ahmet Davutoğlu’nun 31 Mart Seçim Sonuçları ve İçinde Bulunduğumuz Siyasi Şartlara İlişkin Tespit ve Tavsiyeleri [The analyses and advice of Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu on the March 31 election results and the political conditions of Turkey], Facebook, April 22, available at: https://www.facebook.com/A.Davutoglu/posts/2127010720724231?__tn__=-R, accessed September 4, 2019; and Karar (2019) Ali Babacan KARAR’a Konuştu: Yıl Bitmeden Partiyi Kuruyoruz [Ali Babacan speaks to the daily Karar: We will establish a party before the end of the year], September 10, available at: https://www.karar.com/guncel-haberler/ali-babacan-karara-konustu-yil-bitmeden-partiyi-kuruyoruz-1319296, accessed September 11, 2019.
45 Author interview, Ankara, August 17, 2019.
46 Author interview, Ankara, August 21, 2019.
47 Elif Çakır (Citation2019) İnsanları Hem Dinden Hem Siyasetten Soğutuyorsunuz [You are alienating people not only from religion but also from politics], Karar, January 19, available at: https://www.karar.com/yazarlar/elif-cakir/insanlari-hem-dinden-hem-de-siyasetten-sogutuyorsunuz-9085, accessed September 4, 2019; and Ahmet Taşgetiren (Citation2019) Beka’ya Böyle Bakmak [Approaching the survival of the state like this], Karar, February 21, available at: https://www.karar.com/yazarlar/ahmet-tasgetiren/bekaya-boyle-bakmak-9334#, accessed September 4, 2019.
48 KONDA (Citation2019) On Yılda Gençlerde Ne Değişti?: 2008–2018 [How have the youth transformed in 10 years?]. Available at: https://interaktif.konda.com.tr/tr/Gencler2018/#3rdPage, accessed September 4, 2019.
49 AK Parti (Citation2019) Cumhurbaşkanımız ve Genel Başkanımız Erdoğan, 18. Kuruluş Yıl Dönümü Törenine Katıldı [Our president and party leader Erdoğan participated in the 18-year anniversary ceremony of our party], August 23. Available at: http://www.akparti.org.tr/haberler/cumhurbaskanimiz-ve-genel-baskanimiz-erdogan-18-kurulus-yil-donumu-torenine-katildi/, accessed September 11, 2019.
50 Author interview, Ankara, March 19, 2015.
51 Author interview, Ankara, March 21, 2018.
52 Ibid.