Three shades of dismemberment anxiety about Armenians in Turkish politics

This article explores the significance of perceived threats about dismemberment in Turkish politics, also called the Sèvres syndrome. Relying on a qualitative content analysis of Turkish parliamentary records, it scrutinises how the syndrome influences the debates about Armenians between 1983 and 2018. It demonstrates that Turkish politicians refer to the syndrome in three manners: (1) Armenians had tried to dismember; (2) Armenians could create conditions to dismember again and (3) Armenians are actively attempting to dismember. The study concludes that the syndrome presents an obstacle to a peaceful Turkish–Armenian relationship by recalling Turkish victimhood in the past and relating it to contemporary contexts.

“Blue Homeland” and Cyprus: The “Survival of the State” Coalition and Turkey’s Changing Geopolitical Doctrine in the Eastern Mediterranean

The importance of the Eastern Mediterranean for the Turkish state is diachronic. In recent years, however, a renewed interest of Ankara is being recorded as a result of the developments in the energy sphere. This is expressed through various forms of interventionist policy of Turkey in the area. This article examines the reshaping of Turkeys geopolitical dogma and its connection with Turkish perception of the Eastern Mediterranean. It examines the impact of the failed coup attempt in 2016 on the ruling power bloc and its reflections in the Turkish geopolitical doctrine. In this framework the article explores the reinstatement of the need for survival of the state ( devletin bekası ) as a result of the reshaping of the ruling coalition and the legitimisation of the attempt to strengthen the authority of the state. At the same time, the ideological construction of the Eastern Mediterranean is important, as it can reveal the process of construction of security issues or the instrumentalisation of real threats through which geopolitical orientation is reshaped and specific policies are implemented. This study consequently reviews the identification of the Eastern Mediterranean with a wider hostile region and analyses the functioning of the blue homeland concept as a legitimising axis of Turkish politics. The concept of blue homeland is examined in conjunction with internal developments in Turkey and especially the change of balance in the power bloc. Finally, the last part of the article analyses the ideological legitimisation of the blue homeland concept in Turkeys strategy for the Eastern Mediterranean. Through these dynamics, the change in Ankaras perception of the Turkish Cypriot community and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is also identified.

Young people’s anxieties may affect Turkish politics

Significance Some 13 million voters will be in the 18-27 age group when the next presidential and parliamentary elections take place, unless they are called early. About half will be voting in national elections for the first time. Young people in Turkey have become more pessimistic about their own futures and the future of the country. Impacts Erdogan and the AKP may increase their focus on youth in the run-up to the election: fielding young candidates may be a useful tactic. The opposition could try to offer credible new ideas in the area of employment and the economy. Focusing on corruption and inequality, women’s rights and protection, and freedom of expression could also attract young people’s interest. Young people’s disengagement could continue after the 2023-24 election cycle, particularly if nothing changes and no new leaders emerge.

The Study of Politics in Turkey

Turkey with its rich but contested political history has been a crucial case to study topics that have global relevance including democratic backsliding, foreign policy activism, majoritarianism, post-truth politics, neoliberalism, political violence, populism, polarization, religious and ethnic politics, and secularism. Engaging with the broader literature on these topics, The Oxford Handbook of Turkish Politics offers an analytical, fresh, and comparative understanding of politics in a country that literally and figuratively epitomizes “being at the crossroads.” This chapter offers a thematic summary of the Handbook while addressing some of the most salient issues concerning Turkish politics. Synthesizing some of the major insights from the Handbook, it specifically addresses a set of interrelated questions: How do Turkish politics align with global economic and political trends? What have been the defining aspects of the Turkish state’s involvement in the economy? How could we make sense of Turkey’s descent into authoritarianism after a period of political reform? What are prospects for a democratic revival and social activism pursuing progressive change? What factors contribute to and limit activism in Turkish foreign policy?

Religion and Politics in Contemporary Turkey

Religion and secularism have been central threads in Turkish politics throughout the history of the republic. This chapter focuses on three important aspects of the relationship between religion and politics in contemporary Turkey. First, it explores the political functions of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), a government agency that has served as the primary means for the implementation of the religious policies of the Turkish state. Second, it investigates the relations between Islamic communities, political parties, and the state and argues that the distinction between official and unofficial Islam that has informed much of the work on the Turkish religious field must be strongly qualified. Finally, the author focuses on the trajectory of political Islam in Turkey, critically reviewing the literature on the rise, political incorporation, and authoritarian turn of Islamic parties. The conclusion emphasizes the need for studies investigating the impact of politics on religiosity in Turkish society.

On ‘Nostalgia for the Empire: The Politics of Neo-Ottomanism’ by M. Hakan Yavuz

Summary Four international scholars have individually reflected critically on M. Hakan Yavuz’s new book Nostalgia for the Empire: The Politics of Neo-Ottomanism. The book recognizes nostalgia as a major variable in articulating and analyzing the current spectrum of Turkish politics by exploring neo-Ottomanism which has, in many respects, become an instrumental frontal display for Islam and Islamism.