POSITIONING TURKEY VIS-À-VIS THE MIDDLE EAST: ANALYSIS OF TURKISH POLITICAL ELITES’ DISCOURSE

Date

2025-9-12

Author

Akhundlu, Ilkin

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This thesis examines how the Turkish political elites discursively position Turkey in the Middle East. While existing scholarship largely focuses on geopolitical dynamics and foreign policy outcomes, this study tries to understand the role of discourse by utilising National Role Conceptions (NRC) framework from the Role theory with the Critical Discourse Analysis approach (CDA). The analysis mainly covers GNAT group meeting speeches of elites from the four main political parties in Turkey. The scope of the thesis, however, is limited to the five selected cases between 2010 and 2024. The analysis reveals the sharp contrast between the government and opposition parties’ understanding of Turkey’s position in the region. The findings, supporting the literature, show that the Turkey’s foreign policy is not only shaped by the material constraints but also by discursive struggles. By combining the NRC framework with CDA, this study enriches the Role theory with empirical insights.

Subject Keywords

Turkey, Middle East, National Role Conceptions, political elite discourse

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/115614

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis