Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International Congress on Political, Economic and Social Studies, Sakarya, Türkiye, 13 - 15 Mayıs 2022, ss.26
Many theories, approaches, definitions have been laid down for the understanding of nationalism, which is simultaneously producing many questions to answer ahead. One of the recent debates is the ‘inward looking’ nature of nationalism. Whether it is the recent pandemic, the Brexit, Russian-Ukrainian war, or alarming rates of Islamophobia in the West, with an identity populist flavor, the issue pertains to nationalism or for some nativism, currently with an ‘inward looking’ instrumentalist nature, uncovering new debates arising out of the conflicts in today’s nation-states. One of these appears to be the ruling coalition known as People’s Alliance (de facto alliance between the Justice and Development party (AKP) and the National Movement Party (MHP) in Turkey thanks to its nationalist rhetoric, yet with an ‘inward looking’ pace. The deepening of polarization is causing a mutual fear, mistrust, and antipathy among the people in Turkey. As the coalition is aiming to reinvigorate the nation, the opponents are claiming it as a dissemination of hatred. This political rift is deepening via the political discourse and atmosphere and, the goal of this study is to inquiry into this via a critical discourse analysis. The discourse displays an inward-looking nationalist rhetoric, upon evidence from party leaderships, circling around three prominent issues: the proclamation of opponents as traitors via a blame shifting rhetoric, the protection of the fate of the coalition as the savior of the country, and finally who adheres to the nation or not via the nativeness debate.
Keywords: Nationalism, Nation-State, Identity, Instrumentalism, People's Alliance