Browsing by Subject "Ethnopolitics"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Open Access
The metamorphosis of metaphors of vision: "bridging" Turkey's location, role and identity after the end of the cold war
(2009) Yanık, L. K.
During the Cold War, "buffer" or "bastion" seemed a popular metaphor to describe Turkey. After the Cold War, "bridge," (and, to some extent, the "crossroad") metaphor started to dominate the Turkish foreign policy Di{dotless}scourse. This article traces the use of "bridge" metaphor in this Di{dotless}scourse in the post-Cold War period by the Turkish foreign policy elite. It develops two arguments. First, the word bridge is a "metaphor of vision" combining Turkey's perceived geographical exceptionalism with an identity and a role at the international level. As a "metaphor of vision," the employment of the word "bridge" highlighted Turkey's liminality and justified some of its foreign policy actions to Eurasia and then to the Middle East. Second, because the bridge metaphor was used in different context to justify different foreign policy choices, its meaning has changed, illustrating that metaphors are not static constructs. It concludes by Sayi{dotless}ng that the continuous use of "bridge" metaphor might reinforce Turkey's "liminality," placing Turkey in a less classifiable category than the regular "othering" practices. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Open Access
Religion and ethno-nationalism: Turkey's Kurdish issue
(John Wiley & Sons, 2013) Sarıgil, Zeki; Fazlıoğlu, Ömer
One approach within the Islamic camp treats Islam, which emphasizes overarching notions such as the 'Islamic brotherhood' and 'ummah', as incompatible with ethno-nationalist ideas and movements. It is, however, striking that in the last decades, several Islamic and conservative groups in Turkey have paid increasing attention to the Kurdish issue, supporting their ethnic demands and sentiments. Even more striking, the leftist, secular Kurdish ethno-nationalists have adopted a more welcoming attitude toward Islam. How can we explain such intriguing developments and shifts? Using original data derived from several elite interviews and a public opinion survey, this study shows that the struggle for Kurdish popular support and legitimacy has encouraged political elites from both camps to enrich their ideological toolbox by borrowing ideas and discourses from each other. Further, Turkish and Kurdish nationalists alike utilize Islamic discourses and ideas to legitimize their competing nationalist claims. Exploring such issues, the study also provides theoretical and policy implications. © ASEN/John Wiley & Sons Ltd 2013.
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Understanding the experiences of the politics of urbanization in two gecekondu (squatter) neighborhoods under two urban regimes: ethnography in the urban periphery of Ankara, Turkey
(The Institute, Inc., 2011) Erman, T.
This article investigates the politics of urbanization in the Turkish context. It is built upon the premise that the "urban coalition" in the era of nationalist developmentalism, which was populist in nature, is replaced by a "new urban coalition," a neoliberal one, since the 1980s. I argue that the bargaining power of gecekondu (squatter) residents with municipal authorities for their "extra-legal" practices in building their houses in the former era was lost after neoliberal policies were adopted. This argument is substantiated by the ethnographic fieldwork in which the experiences of gecekondu residents in building, improving and (not) defending their houses and neighborhoods were obtained. Two ethnographic studies were conducted in two different sites in Ankara: a neighborhood where the Alevis were the majority, which became the site of leftist mobilization in the 1970s, and a district where conservative Sunnis lived, who supported right-wing politics. By situating the two neighborhoods in the context of the two different urban regimes, namely, those in the populist and neoliberal eras, the article points out the changing relationship of the gecekondu residents with the state, showing variances with respect to the differing political positions and social compositions of the two neighborhoods. © 2011 The Institute, Inc.