Islamism, Populism and Turkish Foreign Policy

This comprehensive volume analyses the phenomena of populism and Islamism in Turkey under Justice and Development Party (JDP) rule since 2002, and its impact on the country’s foreign policy. The authors seek to identify the meanings of ‘populism’ and ‘Islamism’ in the Turkish context and their relationship to democracy there, exploring the extent to which they may explain the apparent rise of authoritarianism and illiberalism under the JDP and especially under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and address the tensions between Turkey’s ‘western’ and ‘Muslim’ discourses and the politicization of history in the ‘new Turkey’. They examine the implications of these developments for Turkey’s EU accession prospects and its western alliances, explore the impact they have had on the country’s approach to the Arab Spring, and consider their relationship to Turkey’s status as an emerging economy in an economically globalizing context. The volume also debates whether Turkish populism is unique to that country or reflects a growing trend in world politics, including in the west. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of political science and international relations, especially those with a focus on Turkey. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Turkish Studies.1. Introduction: Populism and Islamism in Turkey Bill Park 2. Turkey’s ‘Western’ or ‘Muslim’ identity and the AKP’s civilizational discourse Menderes Çinar 3. Populism and foreign policy in Turkey under the AKP rule Burak Bilgehan Özpek and Nebahat Tanriverdi Yaşar 4. Dark taints on the looking glass: Whither ‘New Turkey’? Mustafa A. Sezal and İhsan Sezal 5. Politicization of recent Turkish history: (ab)use of history as a political discourse in Turkey Mustafa Serdar Palabiyik 6. Islamism and Turkey’s foreign policy during the Arab Spring Birol Başkan 7. Neo-developmentalist turn in the global political economy? The Turkish case Mustafa Kutlay and Hüseyin Emrah Karaoğu