Turkish Politics And The Rise Of The Akp

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been in power since 2002. This book is the first book-length analysis to chart the rise and development of the party from its Islamist roots through to government, analysing in particular its internal organisation and dynamics. Since its foundation in 2001, the AKP seems to have been more successful than any other party with an Islamic background in the history of the Turkish Republic. Drawing on interviews and analyses of quantitative data from primary and secondary sources, the author examines the party’s character as an organisation, its internal power structure, its electoral roots, strategy and leadership in the context of its organisational environment - including its constitution, major veto players as well as international actors. Going beyond a mere analysis of Turkish politics and parties, this book applies classical theories and models on political parties to the Turkish case. Focusing on the notion of ‘institutionalisation’ and its two main dimensions, autonomy and ‘systemness’, it makes an original contribution to both the empirical study of the AKP, contemporary Turkish Politics and the general discussion on theories of party organisation.

This book aims at exploring the logic of political survival in Turkish politics studying the case of the AKP and using evidence from elite interviews, party documents, public speeches, and developments and changes for exploring AKP’s political survival in the chapters. These evidences indicate that there are four independent variables of dependent variable which is AKP’s political survival; -- the legitimization of AKP’s conservatism (2002-2007), AKP’s power struggle with Kemalist elites (2007-2011), AKP’s populism and authoritarianism (2011-2014) and the instrumentalization of Islamism and nationalism under Erdogan’s leadership (2014-2018) -- within the AKP’s four terms. In other words, this research offers a cause-and-effect mechanism between the four different policy approaches of the AKP’s four periods and the AKP’s political survival. Indeed, the AKP has been the most successful political party at the point of ensuring political survival throughout its 16-year rule. In the literature, there are few studies analyzing the 16-year rule of AKP government integrally. As a result of this limitation, the original contribution of this research is that it offers a holistic approach of the AKP government between 2002 and 2018 with using the concept of political survival which is not explored for the AKP case in the literature.

Today's Turkey little resembles that of recent decades. Newfound economic prosperity has had many unexpected social and political repercussions, most notably the rise of the AKP party and President Erdogan. Despite unprecedented electoral popularity, the conduct of the AKP has faced growing criticism: Turkey has yet to solve its Kurdish question; its foreign policy is increasingly fraught as it balances relations with Iran, Israel, Russia and the EU; and widespread protests gripped the country in 2013, as did an unsuccessful coup in 2016. The government is now perceived by many to be corrupt, unaccountable, intimidating of the press and intolerant of political alternatives. Has this once promising democracy descended into a tyranny of the majority led by a charismatic leader? Is Turkey more polarised now than at any point in its recent history? These are among the questions at the heart of The New Turkey and Its Discontents, which traces Turkey's evolution under Erdogan's leadership, and assesses the likely consequences at home and abroad.

Turkey is positioned to become the twenty-first centuryÆs first Muslim power. Based on a dynamic economy and energetic foreign policy, TurkeyÆs growing engagement with other countries has made it a key player in the newly emerging multidirectional world order. TurkeyÆs trade patterns and societal interaction with other nations have broadened and deepened dramatically in the past decade, transforming Turkey from a Cold War outpost into a significant player internationally. TurkeyÆs ascendance and the changes that have taken place under the leadership of TurkeyÆs Muslim conservative government have prompted its policymakers to craft a new vision of their role in twenty-first-century society. This developing worldview animates TurkeyÆs desire to sometimes take the lead with its co-religionists and occasionally challenge its partners in the West, while showing no inclination to become an irresponsible rising power. If it can consolidate liberal democracy at home, Turkey could also assume the role of serving as an example for the newly emerging governments brought about by the Arab Spring. The cornerstone of TurkeyÆs rise has been the governmentÆs ability to foster stable political conditions for economic growth, alongside a foreign policy that balances TurkeyÆs Muslim identity with its Western overlay, including its strong ties to the United States. Accordingly, policies that could tarnish TurkeyÆs reputation as a bastion of stability risk undermining its position between Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. This realization has been the catalyst for Ankara's careful management of Eastern and Western desires and expectations. The result is a new Turkey: a twenty-first-century Muslim power that promotes stability without the confines of a regional, European rubric.

Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), after coming to power in 2002, sought to play a larger diplomatic role in the Middle East. The AKP adopted a proactive foreign policy to create ‘strategic depth’ by expanding Turkey’s zone of influence in the region, drawing on the opportunities of geography, economic power and imperial history to reconnect the country with its historical hinterland. Yet despite early promise, this policy came undone after the Arab upheavals of 2011 and has seen Turkey increasingly at odds with its neighbours and the West. Turkey's New Foreign Policy outlines the key tenets of the AKP’s policy of strategic depth in the Middle East and how this marks a departure from traditional Turkish foreign policy. Particular attention is focused on the Turkish reaction to the political changes that swept through the Arab world – including the Syrian civil war – and presented Turkey with its most significant foreign-policy challenge to date. Based on extensive primary research of Turkish-language sources, this monograph argues that political changes in the Middle East have precipitated a serious decline in Turkish regional influence, reversing earlier gains in influence after the AKP came to power. However, despite these foreign-policy defeats, the AKP has shown little indication that it is willing to scale back its ambitions, insisting that it stands on the right side of history – drawing a clear distinction between Turkey and the West.

Where is Turkey heading? The internal and external policy reorientation of the AKP since the year 2002 makes this question justified. According to the political language of the ruling AKP elite, Turkish society has entered a phase of a 'new Turkey' with more democracy and economic development. One thing is certain: with the rise in power of the AKP, Turkish politics is gaining a new dynamic, which is full of conflict and is leading to reform of the political domain. This anthology explores these processes of change and the continuity of Turkish political culture during this period. It devotes particular attention to the influence of the AKP government's policy on Turkey's political and cultural order. The individual contributions it contains are therefore concerned with the question of the changes in and continuity of political and cultural patterns. With this focus, they allow conclusions to be drawn concerning Turkey's political order and, in particular, the question of democratisation.

While the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has dominated Turkish politics for a decade and a half, recent years have seen a qualitative change, culminating in the 2017 referendum on the move to a presidential system. This volume focuses on the later years of AKP rule after the first direct presidential election in 2014. It shows how during this period the AKP has changed the political system and societal dynamics, maintained its electoral predominance, and ultimately opened the way for regime change. This collection of key chapters offers indispensable reading for everyone who wants to understand current Turkish politics and the continued hegemony of the AKP in the country’s political life. Chapters 2–10 previously published as articles (Vol 19: issue 2 to Vol 22: issue 3) in South European Society and Politics.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) were elected to power in 2002 and since then Turkish politics has undergone considerable change. This book is a comprehensive analysis of the AKP and its politics in government, and will be an important contribution to Political Science, particularly the areas of Turkish politics, Middle Eastern studies, Islamic studies and comparative politics.