Religion, Nationalism and Foreign Policy: Discursive Construction of New Turkey's Identity

193 Pages·2022·6.984 MB·English

by  Filiz Coban Oran

Religion, Nationalism and
Foreign Policy
Critiquing Religion: Discourse, Culture, Power
Series editor: Craig Martin
Critiquing Religion: Discourse, Culture, Power publishes works that historicize
both religions and modern discourses on ‘religion’ that treat it as a unique
object of study. Using diverse methodologies and social theories, volumes
in this series view religions and discourses on religion as commonplace
rhetorics, authenticity narratives, or legitimating myths which function in
the creation, maintenance, and contestation of social formations. Works in
the series are on the cutting edge of critical scholarship, regarding ‘religion’
as just another cultural tool used to gerrymander social space and distribute
power relations in the modern world. Critiquing Religion: Discourse, Culture,
Power provides a unique home for reflexive, critical work in the field of
religious studies.
Christian Tourist Attractions, Mythmaking and Identity Formation
Edited by Erin Roberts and Jennifer Eyl
French Populism and Discourses on Secularism
Per-Erik Nilsson
Reframing the Masters of Suspicion: Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud
Andrew Dole
Spirituality, Corporate Culture, and American Business:
The Neoliberal Ethic and the Spirit of Global Capital
James Dennis LoRusso
Stereotyping Religion: Critiquing Clichés
Edited by Brad Stoddard and Craig Martin
Religion, Nationalism and
Foreign Policy
Discursive Construction of
New Turkey’s Identity
Filiz Coban Oran
BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
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First published in Great Britain 2022
Copyright © Filiz Coban Oran, 2022
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1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
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Contents
Acknowledgements vi
Introduction 1
1 History: Religion, Turkish nationalism and foreign policy 9
2 Theory and methodology: Critical discourse analysis 49
3 Discourse analysis: Imagining the New Turkey 83
4 Conclusion 135
Bibliography 149
Index 179
Acknowledgements
Turkey has been one of the most distinctive examples in having a problem-
atic relationship between religion, the state and society. Despite the secular
character of the Republican system, since the Justice and Development Party
came to power in 2002 the main reference point has become Islam in Turk-
ish politics, which has reconstructed the nation-state identity and foreign
policy discourse through a domestic power struggle. This book approaches
this phenomenon critically and offers to see the New Turkey from differ-
ent discourses of nationalism. By decoding the clashing narratives of the
nation, it exhibits a need to subvert the dominant paradigms of Kemalism
and Islamism for a more pluralist and inclusive understanding of the nation.
In this context, I am grateful to the editor of Bloomsbury’s series of Criti-
quing Religion: Discourse, Culture, Power, Dr Craig Martin, who welcomed
my study.
This book is a product of my studies at the School of Political, Social
and International Studies at the University of East Anglia. The School
of Political, Social and International Studies constituted one of the most
plentiful grounds for my intellectual development in exploring new
insights and perspectives on studying politics. What makes me say that is
undoubtedly the immense contribution that the PSI’s academic members
played in my overall advancement. First, I want to express my thanks to
Professor Hussein Kassim, for his unique intellectual eye and contribution
to my perspective on my project and for his guidance. Additionally, my
greatest debt and sense of thankfulness go to Dr Sanna Inthorn, who
patiently helped me resolve every single difficulty I faced during my study
and, more importantly, developed my knowledge and expertise in media
and politics, understanding Critical Discourse Analysis and my academic
skills in general.
Furthermore, many friends and colleagues from the PSI contributed in
numerous ways through many hours of discussion. I mention them with
Acknowledgements vii
the unbearable possibility of leaving some out. However, I would like to
acknowledge those who have broadened my knowledge and my perspective
in the field. For their remarks and support during the doctorate coordination
process and their outstanding and inspiring works in political theory, I
would also like to express my gratitude to Professor Alan Finlayson and
Dr Alex Brown. This study also benefited from the studies and discussions
of Professor John Street in media and politics, Professor Lee Marsden in
religion and International Relations and all other UEA fellows who work in
the areas of Middle East studies; European studies; and media, language and
communication studies. I am also thankful to UEA workers, particularly the
PGR Office staff and after-midnight librarians, who made things much easier
for this night owl.
Moreover, the seminars and conferences I attended in other UK universities
matured my work, namely, in Birmingham, Bradford, Cambridge, Exeter
and specifically contemporary Turkish studies and the ASEN conferences at
the London School of Economics and Political Science. Moreover, I would
like to extend my gratitude to the following international organizations and
their participants: the NEPAS Project for providing me with scholarships
for the research school on ‘Democratization and Political Transitions in
the Arab World: Actors, Challenges and Policy Options for the EU’ in the
University of Minho, Portugal; the ECPR Joint Sessions in Mainz, Germany
for the workshop on ‘Interpreting Foreign Policy’; the University of Antwerp,
Belgium for organizing the UCSIA Research Summer School and funding my
participation to the course on ‘Religion and Nationalism’; the Bergen Summer
Research School in Norway for supporting my attendance to the research
entitled ‘Emerging Normative Regimes’; and the University of Bologna, Italy
for hosting the CEI International Summer School of Cervia and for funding
my work on ‘Diversity Management’.
Thanks to all the researchers and friends that I have met along the way
in my quest and who have made me feel that I am at home. Like a honeybee
touching colourful flowers of different gardens and aiming for a better taste,
this study is a product of everyone who has made me as I am today. Lastly,
the role of my family in the construction of my worldview and perspective on
equality and freedom is remarkable. Thus, I am indebted to my family; without
their love and support, it would not have been possible to go on. This book is
viii Acknowledgements
dedicated to my father Akif Coban who worked hard for others, lived, and
ended his life journey in such an honest and honourable way, by lighting a fire
in the darkness for everyone, without any discrimination.
Filiz Coban Oran
2020
Introduction
Living in a politically polarized society has always been a challenging journey
in Turkey. On your way you cannot imagine where it can hit you and make
you a random victim. Luckily enough I was born after the 12 September
1980 military coup, thus I do not have any memory of this brutal period of
Turkish political history. While Prime Minister Turgut Ozal was opening
Turkey to the world during my childhood, my family and I moved to five
different cities, including Kyrenia in Cyprus, as my father was a naval officer.
The free and safe streets of my childhood welcomed me wherever we went. I
remember how we enjoyed the national days of the Kemalist regime and how
we were proud and passionate to repeat the National Oath in school every
morning of the 1990s, in the years of rising political Islam with the electoral
victory of Necmettin Erbakan and the escalating Kurdish question. In a small
western city in Turkey, I was just feeling that something was getting worse. I
was just twelve, the top student of my school, but my real love was reading
in an unselective, exciting discovery, including Alex Haley’s Roots, Wilbur
Smith’s The Sunbird, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Orhan
Pamuk’s The New Life… One day I took the book I was reading to the school,
Sule Yuksel Senler’s The Street of Peace. I was taken to an investigation about
my intention. I did not know that she was a forbidden Islamist novelist. It
was unacceptable, an unforgivable mistake for Kemalists! Although the book
was not more than a love story for me, our Turkish literature teacher was
replaced with a new one and my grade was brought down. After that moment
of injustice, the grades meant nothing to me. In the following years, the
army forced out Erbakan’s coalition government with a postmodern military
memorandum. Nonetheless, being such a bookworm, I kept reading. I chose
my own way, studied philosophy at the Hacettepe University and became a
student of Professor Ioanna Kucuradi. Reading on political thinkers and
ideologies – Aristotle, Nietzsche, Marx, Foucault, Baudrillard – was such an
enlightenment! In the streets of Turkey, there was hope of a change as Turkey