Ekonomi, Politika & Finans Araştırmaları Dergisi (Apr 2020)
Rethinking Euroscepticism in Turkey: Government, Opposition and Public Opinion
Abstract
This article aims to scrutinise the state of euroscepticism in Turkey with a particular focus on the shifting preferences of government, opposition and public opinion in the last decade. Building upon Yılmaz’s (2011) analysis, the article will try to make sense of the eurosceptic transformations in Turkish politics from 2008 onwards. Accordingly, first, shifting governmental discourses towards the EU will be discussed with a particular focus on how the AKP government adopted the ‘Sévres Syndrome’ as a key political tool to denigrate Europe. Second, euroscepticism in opposition parties will be scrutinised comparing the strategic eurosceptic rhetoric of the CHP with the ideologically-driven euroscepticism of the MHP. Final section will examine how Turkish public responds to the eurosceptic/pro-EU shifts in the discourses of major political parties. Overall, the article argues that euroscepticism in Turkish politics in the last decade often fluctuates between government and opposition in response to certain domestic political turning points appearing to be more strategic than ideologically-driven, more volatile than stable, and hence less and less credible.
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