{"title":"Defensive and Active Years of the Akp","authors":"A. Öztürk","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter aims to read the AKP period of Turkey in light of a combination of domestic and foreign policies, with religion at the forefront. In these two chapters, the concept of ‘state of exception’ is employed to understand the authoritarian ethno-nationalist Sunnification of Turkey under AKP rule. Indeed, throughout the chapters the new positions of state institutions such as Diyanet, the role of the Gülen Movement, the role of Ahmet Davutoğlu in the new Turkish foreign policy and the leadership of Erdoğan constitute the priorities, since these are the main determinants in an understanding of the relations between the Balkans and Turkey since the early 2000s.","PeriodicalId":186229,"journal":{"name":"Religion, Identity and Power","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127745451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Destabilising the Secular Environments of Host Countries","authors":"A. Öztürk","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0012","url":null,"abstract":"Even though various common elements appear in the reflection of Turkey’s new foreign policy in the three case countries, the cases show meaningful differences. These differences stem from their economic strength, multi-layered relations with Turkey and their positions in the international system. One crucial point is however shared between the three cases: Turkey’s religion-oriented and authoritarian domestic political change has manifested as a coercive ethno-nationalist Sunnification of its Balkan policy, and this has transformed Turkey’s position in the eyes of the Balkan socio-political elites, from the soft power it has been, to the ambiguous and uncertain one it is becoming.","PeriodicalId":186229,"journal":{"name":"Religion, Identity and Power","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129570737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Conclusion The New Turkey in the Balkans: An Ambiguous Actor?","authors":"A. Öztürk","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0013","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing on over two years of fieldwork and more than 120 semi-structured elite interviews in Turkey and the Balkans, this book seeks to illuminate a neglected aspect of Turkey’s relations with its Balkan neighbours, in the context of the broader shift in Turkish domestic and foreign policy under the AKP from a realist-secular orientation to an ambiguous coercive Sunni Islamic one. It explains the complex relations between religion (Islam) and state identity, and their reflection in state power. In order to analyse how these concepts have been utilized and how they been received locally, this book uses as primary sources both Turkish and local actors in the three country cases: Republic of Bulgaria, Republic of North Macedonia and Republic of Albania. This part summaries all of these points","PeriodicalId":186229,"journal":{"name":"Religion, Identity and Power","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124418238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Service to the Global Ummah","authors":"A. Öztürk","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0009","url":null,"abstract":"Under the shadow of these observations and findings, the AKP has realised that Turkey’s Western-oriented laik foreign policy has not been serving the new interests of Turkey, and so it aims to establish deeper relations with the Balkan countries, but particularly with the Muslims of these countries. Turkey has in fact been preferring to serve the Ummah, instead of expanding relations with all components of the Balkans, in spite of the fragile economic conditions prevailing in the region. Even though the socio-political elites of the host countries are pleased with these initiatives, they are at the same time suspicious. Hence, this mostly single-sided and religion-oriented investment approach is one of the significant indicators of how its preferences make Turkey an ambiguous power in the region.","PeriodicalId":186229,"journal":{"name":"Religion, Identity and Power","volume":"os-4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127983153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interfering in the Internal Affairs of Host Countries","authors":"A. Öztürk","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0011","url":null,"abstract":"The power and influence of the Gülen Movement is another factor in the reactions of the case countries, but the main determinant is the response capacities of the countries in question. In this regard, the Bulgarian state seems to have the greatest capacity to respond directly to the problems exported from Turkey. It is a member state of the EU, which could intervene to block some of Turkey’s demands. On the other hand, the Bulgarian authorities are aware that without the Diyanet’s financial support there may be serious issues among the country’s Muslim population. Therefore, it has been trying to frame the issues in a delicate balance.","PeriodicalId":186229,"journal":{"name":"Religion, Identity and Power","volume":"24 1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134013177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Turkey as a Nascent Power in the Balkans: From the Özal Years to the Akp","authors":"A. Öztürk","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"Without considering the common history of Turkey and the Balkans, and the Özal period in Turkey, it would be difficult to understand the AKP’s religion-oriented domestic and foreign policy preferences and Turkey’s religious-oriented ambivalent soft power structure for the Balkans. Therefore, this chapter also explains the historical social–political developments via using interviews and relevant fieldwork notes.","PeriodicalId":186229,"journal":{"name":"Religion, Identity and Power","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126513527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introduction Turkey and the Balkans in the New Millennium: Religion, Identity and Power","authors":"A. Öztürk","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0001","url":null,"abstract":"‘ Turkey is back!’ Since the beginning of the 2000s, a considerable number of semi-academic and academic productions, echoing popular opinion, have been building around this theme with regard to the role of the Turkish Republic in the Balkan Peninsula and its social, cultural, economic and religious ramifications. Some claim that the policies of the successive AKP (Justice and Development Party – Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) governments and the political strategies of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan concerning the Balkans have long been energised by Turkey’s desire to re-establish political, economic, religious and cultural hegemony in the region through various neo-imperialist and neo-colonial projects, and to foresee the revitalisation of the multifaceted Ottoman legacy....","PeriodicalId":186229,"journal":{"name":"Religion, Identity and Power","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134337836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Turkey in the Balkans: From Late Ottoman to the 1970s","authors":"A. Öztürk","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"Forming a major historical backbone of the book, the chapter discusses power relations over the last two centuries, covering the Ottoman State and the Turkish Republic one of the previous breaking points of the AKP. This chapter is essential for two reasons: First, it is hard to understand current discussions about the Balkans and Turkey without knowledge on the background, since many issues stem from the Ottoman period and continue throughout the twentieth century. Secondly, all the discussions about identity within the Ottoman State are relevant for both Turkey and the Balkans and are still valid.","PeriodicalId":186229,"journal":{"name":"Religion, Identity and Power","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125819695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reactive and Aggressive Years of the Akp","authors":"A. Öztürk","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0007","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter aims to read the AKP period of Turkey in light of a combination of domestic and foreign policies, with religion at the forefront. In these two chapters, the concept of ‘state of exception’ is employed to understand the authoritarian ethno-nationalist Sunnification of Turkey under AKP rule. Indeed, throughout the chapters the new positions of state institutions such as Diyanet, the role of the Gülen Movement, the role of Ahmet Davutoğlu in the new Turkish foreign policy and the leadership of Erdoğan constitute the priorities, since these are the main determinants in an understanding of the relations between the Balkans and Turkey since the early 2000s.","PeriodicalId":186229,"journal":{"name":"Religion, Identity and Power","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114077135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exportation of Domestic Conflicts","authors":"A. Öztürk","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474474689.003.0010","url":null,"abstract":"The power and influence of the Gülen Movement is another factor in the reactions of the case countries, but the main determinant is the response capacities of the countries in question. In this regard, the Bulgarian state seems to have the greatest capacity to respond directly to the problems exported from Turkey. It is a member state of the EU, which could intervene to block some of Turkey’s demands. On the other hand, the Bulgarian authorities are aware that without the Diyanet’s financial support there may be serious issues among the country’s Muslim population. Therefore, it has been trying to frame the issues in a delicate balance.","PeriodicalId":186229,"journal":{"name":"Religion, Identity and Power","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126524186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}