2019/01/02 by Edward Wastnidge · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Turkey's Politics and Society #Balkans: History, Politics, Society #Middle East Politics and Society #Turkish #Politics #Foreign policy #Authoritarianism #Political economy #Power (physics) #Political science #Sociology #Power politics #Democracy #Law
paper · doi:10.1080/19436149.2018.1549232
openalex publication_date 2019/01/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Since the coming to power of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Turkish government’s foreign and increasingly domestic politics have been characterized as ‘neo-Ottoman,’ a concept which both its critics and champions have wielded in different ways. The article revisits and reassesses articulations of neo-Ottomanism in Turkish foreign policy, and explores the significance of its appearance in Turkey’s domestic politics in Turkey. In doing so, it offers an explanation that draws out the distinct and varied interpretations of neo-Ottomanism present in such debates. It argues that neo-Ottomanism as used within a foreign policy milieu is not without its analytical use but is contestable due to its wide range of interpretations. Following this, the article analyzes the more recent appearance of the concept of neo-Ottomanism in Turkish domestic politics, highlighting its confluence with the increasing authoritarianism of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a newly empowered president. It highlights how the AKP has embraced and appropriated a precisely delineated neo-Ottomanism as a rhetorical and legitimating framework for its domestic policies. In doing so, the article demonstrates how neo-Ottomanism as developed and understood in the foreign policy arena initially, has been adopted in domestic politics under the AKP.