DISCURSIVE GOVERNANCE: ERDOĞAN’S POPULIST DISCOURSES AS A MODE OF POWER PRESERVATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/CJPS.2020.006Keywords
Erdoğan, Turkey, Critical Discourse Analysis, governance, conspiracyAbstract
Although he used to be praised by the West as a modernizer of Turkey, Erdoğan’s mode and discourse of governance have changed drastically over the last decade – he now employs severe counter-democratic measures and exclusionary, populist discourses. This article explores Erdoğan’s rule, focusing in particular on the discourses he promotes in order to keep power and attain increasing electoral support. In an analysis based on the theoretical foundations of Critical Discourse Analysis, Erdoğan’s reign is characterized by specific, exclusionary discourses, from creating the discursive Other established as the enemy and engaging in conspiracy discourses, to openly chastising and castigating his political opponents, while his popularity continues to increase.
References
A.Haber. (2017, Feb 25). AK Parti'nın 'Evet' kampanyası resmen start aldı. A.Haber). Retrieved from http://www.ahaber.com.tr/gundem/2017/02/25/ak-partinin-evet-kampanyasi-resmen-start-aldi
Akser, M., & Baybars-Hawks, B. (2012). Media and democracy in Turkey: Toward a model of neoliberal media autocracy. Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication 5(3), 302–321.
Akyol, M. (2014, Jan 3). What you should know about Turkey's AKP-Gulen conflict. AI-Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/01/akp-gulen-conflict-guide.html
Akyol, M. (2015, Feb 2). What turned Erdogan against the West. AI-Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/turkey-erdogan-anti-west.html
Arango, T. (2014, Feb 26). Turkish Leader Disowns Trials That Helped Him Tame Military. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/27/world/europe/turkish-leader-disowns-trials-that-helped-him-tame-military.html?_r=0
Arango, T., & Yeginsu, C. (2016, Aug 2). Turks Can Agree on One Thing: U.S. Was Behind Failed Coup. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/03/world/europe/turkey-coup-erdogan-fethullah-gulen-united-states.html?_r=0
Arin, K. Y. (2017). Turkey’s New Foreign Policy: The Quest for Regional Hegemony in the Middle East? The Copernicus Journal of Political Studies, 2, 45–57.
Aytaç, S. E., & Çarkoğlu, A. (2019). Ethnicity and religiosity-based prejudice in Turkey: Evidence from a survey experiment. International Political Science Review, 40(1), 58–72.
Başbakanlık, T. C. (2016). 15 Temmuz Şehitleri Dayanışma Kampanyası. Ankara. Retrieved from https://www.basbakanlik.gov.tr/Forms/_Article/pg_Article.aspx?Id=48dfb4bd-9199-47a1-afd5-cf4bc7b5b386.
BBC. (2013, Dec 18). Profile: Fetullah Gulen's Hizmet movement. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-13503361
Betz, H.-G. (2009). Xenophobia, identity politics and exclusionary populism in Western Europe. Socialist Register, 39(39), 193-210.
Birgün. (2017, Feb 15). Erdoğan'ın 'evet' kampanyasında ilk durak Maraş. Birgün Gazetesi. Retrieved from http://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/erdogan-in-evet-kampanyasinda-ilk-durak-maras-146958.html
Briscoe, I. (2008). The Proliferation of the Parallel State. Madrid: Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior, Working Paper, 71.
Bugaric, B. (2008). Populism, liberal democracy, and the rule of law in Central and Eastern Europe. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 41(2), 191–203.
Cagaptay, S. (2019). Making Turkey Great Again. Fletcher F. World Aff. 43, 169.
Carpentier, N. (2011). The Ideological Model of War: Discursive Mediations of the Self and the Enemy. Creating destruction: constructing images of violence and genocide 1.
Cerrahoğlu, N. (2015, Aug 18). Erdoğan: ‘Devlet benim!'. Cumhuriyet. Retrieved from http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/koseyazisi/347529/Erdogan___Devlet_benim__.html
Champion, M. (2016, Jul 17). Coup Was ‘Gift From God’ for Erdogan Planning a New Turkey. Bloomberg. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-17/coup-was-a-gift-from-god-says-erdogan-who-plans-a-new-turkey
Chaney, P. (2013). Electoral discourse analysis of state foreign policy development: exploring the party politicization of the Commonwealth in UK Westminster elections 1945–2010. Contemporary Politics, 19(2), 203–220.
Christensen, M. (2010). Notes on the public sphere on a national and post-national axis Journalism and freedom of expression in Turkey. Global Media and Communication, 6(2), 177–197.
Curran, J. (2011). Media and democracy: Taylor & Francis.
D'Amours, J. (2017, Jul 21). Analysis: Dissecting Turkey's Gulen-Erdogan Relationship. Middle East Ey. Retrieved from http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/analysis-dissecting-turkeys-gulen-erdogan-relationship-528239159.
Dahl, R. A. (2006). Preface to Democratic Theory (Expanded Edition). Retrieved from http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=3563038
Dahlgren, P. (2009). Media and political engagement: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Daily Sabah. (2016, Jun 30). Which institution of the US provided largest support to Gülenist terror group? Daily Sabah. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/DailySabah/status/756575396301312000Damir-Geilsdorf, S. (2004). Martyrdom & Resistance in the Middle East. ISIM Newsletter, 14, 2.
Đidić, A. (2017). Realism in Turkish Foreign Policy Towards Syrian Refugees. Savremena politika i upravljanje, 3(1), 6–28.
Dorsey, J. M. (2016). Fethullah Gulen: Moderniser or Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? RSIS Commentary. Singapore: S. Rajatnam School of International Studies.
Economist, the. (2013, May 18). Turkey's political imams: The Gulenists fight back. The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21578113-muslim-cleric-america-wields-surprising-political-power-turkey-gulenists-fight-back
El-Kazaz, S. (2015). The AKP and the Gülen: The End of a Historic Alliance. Crown Center for Middle East Studies, 94.
Filiztekin, A., & Bakis, O. (2014). The Geography of AKP votes. Paper presented at the 34th annual meeting of The Middle East Economic Association, Philadelphia.
FreedomHouse. (2016). Turkey. Freedom of the press 2016: Freedom House.
Frick, F. S., & Knight, D. (1994). Cui Bono?—History in the Service of Political Nationalism: The Deuteronomistic History as Political Propaganda. Semeia, 66, 79–92.
Gazetesi, Y. (2016, Jul 26). Boğaziçi Köprüsü'nün adı değişti! Yeniçağ Gazetesi. Retrieved from http://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/bogazici-koprusunun-adi-degisti-142740h.htm
Goodnight, G. T., & Poulakos, J. (1981). Conspiracy rhetoric: From pragmatism to fantasy in public discourse. Western Journal of Speech Communication 45(4), 299–316.
Gray, M. (2008). Explaining conspiracy theories in modern Arab Middle Eastern political discourse: some problems and limitations of the literature. Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 17(2), 155–174.
Haber7. (2016, Oct 27). Erdoğan 'idam cezası' için noktayı koydu! Haber7. Retrieved from http://www.haber7.com/ic-politika/haber/2191764-erdogan-idam-cezasi-icin-noktayi-koydu
Haberler. (2014, Dec 14). Kılıçdaroğlu: Demokrasiye Darbe Yapılıyor. Haberler. Retrieved from http://www.haberler.com/kilicdaroglu-demokrasiye-darbe-yapiliyor-6773994-haberi
Hacaoglu, S., & Kozok, F. (2017, Jan 21). Turkey Parliament Triggers Referendum on Presidential System. Bloomberg. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-21/turkey-parliament-triggers-referendum-on-presidential-system-iy6kd8n6
Hintz, L. (2016). Adding Insult to Injury: Vilification as Counter-Mobilization in Turkey's Gezi Protests. Paper presented as part of the project From Mobilization to Counter-Revolution: The Arab Spring in Comparative Perspective.
Howarth, D., & Torfing, J. (2004). Discourse theory in European politics: identity, policy and governance. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523364
Hurriyet. (2014, Mar 14). Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan'dan Hollanda'ya çok sert 'Srebrenitsa' çıkışı! Hollanda'dan yanıt geldi... Hurriyet. Retrieved from http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/erdogandan-srebrenitsa-cikisi-hollandadan-yanit-geldi-40394978
Hurriyet. (2016, Aug 28). Turkish gov’t going too far in post-coup attempt state of emergency measures: CHP head Kılıçdaroğlu. Hurriyet. Retrieved from http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-govt-going-too-far-in-post-coup-attempt-state-of-emergency-measures-chp-head-kilicdaroglu-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=103307&NewsCatID=338
Jäger, S. (2001). Discourse and knowledge: Theoretical and methodological aspects of a critical discourse and dispositive analysis. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (Vol. 2, pp. 32–63). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9780857028020
Jagers, J., & Walgrave, S. (2007). Populism as political communication style: An empirical study of political parties' discourse in Belgium. European Journal of Political Research, 46(3), 319–345.
Jenkins, G. (2012). A house divided against itself: the deteriorating state of media freedom in Turkey. Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Silk Road Studies Program.
Jovanović, S. M. (2013). Dobro upravljanje – cui bono? Elite, politike, nasilje i raspad Jugoslavije. Savremena politika i upravljanje, 1(1), 8–-19.
Jovanović, S. M., & Đidić, A. (2018). How Carl Schmitt and the Copenhagen School Are still Relevant for Understanding Turkey: The Presidential System Explained Through a Security Lens. Political Sciences / Politicke Vedy, 21(2), 8–25.
Kaya, R., & Çakmur, B. (2010). Politics and the mass media in Turkey. Turkish Studies, 11(4), 521–537.
Kersley, R., & Koutsoukis, A. (2016). The Global Wealth Report 2016. Credit-Suisse Research Institute.
Kösebalaban, H. (2011). Turkish foreign policy: Islam, nationalism, and globalization. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Krastev, I. (2007). The populist moment. Eurozine. Retrieved from http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-09-18-krastev-en.html
Kuru, A. T. (2005). Globalization and diversification of Islamic movements: three Turkish cases. Political Science Quarterly, 120(2), 253–274.
Larsen, H. (2005). Foreign policy and discourse analysis: France, Britain and Europe (Vol. 10). London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203992708
Link, J. (1983). Was ist und was bringt Diskurstaktik. KultuRRevolution, 2, 60–66.
Lundahl, M. (1989). Apartheid: cui bono? World development, 17(6), 825-837.
Maigre, M.-E. (2007). The influence of the Gülen Movement in the emergence of a Turkish cultural third way. Muslim World in Transition. London: Leeds Metropolitan University Press.
Mann, J., & Rodgers, W. (2002, Nov 4). Europe hails AKP victory in Turkey. BBC. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/11/04/turkey.elections/
Mardin, Ş. (1973). Center-Periphery Relations: A Key to Turkish Politics? Daedalus, 102.
Marxer, W., & Pállinger, Z. T. (2009). Stabilizing or destabilizing? Direct-democratic instruments in different political systems. Referendums and Representative Democracy. Responsiveness, Accountability and Deliberation. ECPR Studies in European Political Science, 62, 34–55.
McNair, B. (2012). Journalism and democracy: An evaluation of the political public sphere. London: Routledge.
Moss, C. R. (2012). The discourse of voluntary martyrdom: Ancient and modern. Church History, 81(03), 531–551.
Mouffe, C. (1993). The Return of the Political. London: Verso.
Mudde, C. (2004). The populist zeitgeist. Government and opposition, 39(4), 542–563.
Mudde, C., & Kaltwasser, C. R. (2012). Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or corrective for democracy? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Müller, J.-W. (2016). What is Populism? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
OECD. (2013). Education at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators.
Oktay, S. (2016). The Role of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law in Democratization: The Case of Turkey and the Chances of Democratic Consolidation (M.A. thesis). Denver: University of Denver. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.du.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2092&context=etd
Özcan, K. A. (2006). Turkey's Kurds: A theoretical analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Öcalan. New York: Routledge.
Özdamar, Ö., & Ceydilek, E. (2020). European populist radical right leaders’ foreign policy beliefs: An operational code analysis. European journal of international relations, 26(1), 137-162.
Özgönül, E. (2017, Feb 26). 2004 yılında kaldırdıkları idamı referanduma malzeme yapıyorlar. Sözcü. Retrieved from http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2017/gundem/2004-yilinda-kaldirdiklari-idami-referanduma-malzeme-yapiyorlar-1700794
Özsoy, A. (2009, Sep 7). Güçsüz Ordu Güçsüz Türkiye. Retrieved from http://www.turksolu.com.tr/sehit/secmeordu5.htm
ParalelYapı. (2017). Paralel devlet nedir? Paralel Yapı. Retrieved from http://paralelyapi.nedir.net.tr
Pula, B. (2004). The emergence of the Kosovo “parallel state”, 1988–1992 1. Nationalities Papers, 32(4), 797–826.
Rodrik, D. (2016). Is Fethullah Gülen behind Turkey's coup? In D. Rodrik (Ed.), Dani Rodrik's weblog (Vol. 2017).
Rydgren, J. (2005). Is extreme right‐wing populism contagious? Explaining the emergence of a new party family. European Journal of Political Research, 44(3), 413–437.
Sakallioğlu, Ü. C. (1997). The anatomy of the Turkish military's political autonomy. Comparative Politics, 29(2), 151–166.
Sharon-Krespin, R. (2009). Fetullah Gullen's Grand Ambition: Turkey's Islamist Danger. The Middle East Quarterly, 16, 55–56.
Sornig, K. (1989). Some remarks on linguistic strategies of persuasion. Language, power and ideology: Studies in political discourse, 7, 95.
Sözcü. (201, Feb 3). Erdoğan bir türlü istediği cevabı alamadı! Sözcü. Retrieved from http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2017/gundem/erdogan-bir-turlu-istedigi-cevabi-alamadi-1659349
Stephens, P. (2007, Sep 11). Thatcher was right about referendums. Financial Times. Retrieved from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/935c343c-6007-11dc-b0fe0000779fd2ac.html?ft_site=falcon&desktop=true#axzz4aAlZYnyh
T24. (2014, Nov 5). Batı’nın gözünde yeni Erdoğan: İslamcı ve Otoriter. T24.
Taggart, P. (2002). Populism and the pathology of representative politics. In Y. Meny, & Y. Surel (Eds.), Democracies and the populist challenge (pp. 62–80).Palgrave Macmillan UK. DOI: 10.1057/9781403920072.
Taguieff, P.-A. (1995). Political science confronts populism: from a conceptual mirage to a real problem. Telos, 103, 9–43.
Taket, A., Crisp, B. R., Nevill, A., Lamaro, G., Graham, M., & Barter-Godfrey, S. (2009). Theorising social exclusion. London: Routledge.
Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the 'other'. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(4), 593–612.
Turkeypurge.com. (2017).
Van Leeuwen, T. (1993). Genre and field in critical discourse analysis: A synopsis. Discourse & Society, 4(2), 193–223.
Wodak, R. (2001). What CDA is about - a summary of its history, important concepts and its developments. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 1–12). London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
Yavuz, H. M., & Ozcan, N. A. (2007). Crisis in Turkey: The Conflict of Political Languages. Middle East Policy, 14.
Yavuz, M. H., & Öztürk, A. E. (2019). Turkish secularism and Islam under the reign of Erdoğan: Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 19(1), 1–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14683857.2019.1580828
Yeni.Akit. (2016a, Jun 30). 'Ne yapsalar boş göklerden gelen bir karar vardır!'. Yeni Akit. Retrieved from http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/ne-yapsalar-bos-goklerden-gelen-bir-karar-vardir-190032.html
Yeni.Akit. (2016b, Aug 23). Yahudi cemaati: Gülen sen bizim Mesih'imizsin. Yeni Akit. Retrieved from http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/yahudi-cemaati-gulen-sen-bizim-mesihimizsin-205017.html
Yesil, B. (2014). Press Censorship in Turkey: Networks of State Power, Commercial Pressures, and Self‐Censorship. Communication, Culture & Critique, 7(2), 154–173.
Yılmaz, G. (2016). Europeanisation or de-Europeanisation? Media freedom in Turkey (1999–2015). South European Society and Politics, 21(1), 147–161.
Yilmaz, I., Caman, M. E., & Bashirov, G. (2020). How an Islamist party managed to legitimate its authoritarianization in the eyes of the secularist opposition: the case of Turkey. Democratization, 27(2), 265–282.
Zubaida, S. (2017, May 30). Turkey as a model of democracy and Islam. Open Democracy. Retrieved from https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/turkey-as-model-of-democracy-and-islam/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 The Copernicus Journal of Political Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 439
Number of citations: 0
