Making Turkey’s transformation possible: claiming ‘security-speak’—not Desecuritization!

Abstract

There is an emerging consensus in the literature that considers Turkey’s post‐1999 transformation a consequence of AKP‐led efforts directed at challenging the ‘securityness’ of issues. The present article argues that change became possible not through ‘desecuritization’, but owing to some societal actors claiming ‘security‐speak’ to frame other issues as ‘threats to Turkey’s future’, and pointing to Turkey’s accession to the European Union as a solution that would help stabilize its foreign relations as well as the economy and provide an anchor for reform.