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Bilge Yabanci

Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Marie Curie Fellow

University of Bath, Politics, Languages and International Studies (PoLIS), Graduate Student

Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Center for Southeast European Studies, Visiting fellow

Istituto Affari Internazionali, EU-Turkey, Visiting fellow

Stockholm University, Department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies, Post-Doc

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Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

Dr. Yasin Duman

KU Leuven

Université libre de Bruxelles

University of Gothenburg

Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences

Istanbul University

Mehmet Erçorumlu

Yalova University

Gulnihal Simsek

KIRIKKALE UNIVERSITY-TURKEY

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Papers by Bilge Yabanci

Overcoming Prejudices and Stigmatization towards Refugees: A Novel Approach through Deliberative Citizen Dialogues in Turkey

Migration Studies, 2025

Can changing how refugees and asylum seekers are narrated in public debates help citizens reasses... more Can changing how refugees and asylum seekers are narrated in public debates help citizens reassess their prejudices? Which narratives would garner support from ordinary citizens and promise to generate an attitude shift? While hate speech and far-right narratives targeting forcibly displaced people, refugees and asylum seekers are reported extensively, little is known about how citizens would respond to alternative narratives that portray them as rights-bearing agents. This study uses an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that brings migration scholarship in dialogue with cognitive fields and social psychology and offers a novel participatory approach to generate data. In eight cities across Turkey, citizens were invited to deliberate three sets of ‘de-stigmatizing narratives’ based on (1) social solidarity, (2) collective memory of welcoming and settling refugees in the past, and (3) the injustices of exploitation that refugees encounter while earning a living. Participants were steered to discuss each narrative through (a) progressive framing (fairness, egalitarianism, and social cohesion) and (b) conservative-nationalist framing (maintenance of law, order, and identity). The findings reveal that engaging with de-stigmatizing narratives evokes affective empathy, leading to moderate, refugee-supportive attitudes among participants even in a context where anti-refugee attitudes have escalated to communal attacks targeting refugees. However, positive attitudes towards refugees display a local turn, varying by city and often after progressive frames are supported by conservative-nationalist ones. The study highlights the importance of participatory community mobilization and sub-national/local approaches to shift, counter, or replace prevailing narratives to help reduce misinformation and prejudices about refugees.

Civic Opposition and Democratic Backsliding: Mobilization Dynamics and Rapport with Political Parties

Government and Opposition

Democratic backsliding has posed significant challenges to democracies in many countries. Recent ... more Democratic backsliding has posed significant challenges to democracies in many countries. Recent calls for a better theorization of pushback against backsliding have triggered renewed scholarly interest in the field of opposition and its role in stopping or reversing creeping authoritarian rule. This study calls for a theoretical and empirical recalibration of the concept of opposition to account for multifaceted ‘non-partisan’ actors and venues of oppositional mobilization. It proposes a new classification of resilient civic opposition. The explanatory typology is based on two factors: (1) the ability of civic opposition to bring multiple grievances together and to balance between on-street and off-street mediums, and (2) the rapport between political opposition parties and civic opposition. Four cases of civic opposition from Hungary and Turkey illustrate the proposed typology empirically.

Surveil, Datafy, Publicize: digital authoritarianism and migration governance in Turkey

Democratization

Scholarly interest in digital authoritarianism has primarily focused on consolidated authoritaria... more Scholarly interest in digital authoritarianism has primarily focused on consolidated authoritarian regimes, where digital tools and data are employed for surveillance, repression, propaganda, and manipulation of citizens. This study redefines the scope of digital authoritarianism by examining its role in migration governance and its application beyond fully authoritarian states. It introduces a theoretical framework that examines digital authoritarianism through three key mechanisms: digital surveillance, datafication, and the selective publicization of migration data. Using Turkey as a case study, the empirical analysis highlights the distinct impacts of digital authoritarianism on citizens and non-citizens (i.e. refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants). While non-citizens are targeted by the punitive use of surveillance and datafication, the selective dissemination of migration data serves to manipulate public opinion in a failed policy area. The study then examines the European Union's role in enhancing Turkey’s digital authoritarian capacities. It demonstrates that digital authoritarianism is becoming increasingly transnational, with democracies actively driving and financing its implementation in semi-authoritarian contexts, often circumventing democratic oversight. This study advances the theorization of digital authoritarianism by unpacking its nuanced and cross-border dynamics.

Acts of Compliance and Tactful Contention The Polarized Terrain of Women’s Organizations in Turkey under Authoritarian Pressure

Lobbying the Autocrat: The Dynamics of Policy Advocacy in Nondemocracies , 2023

In this chapter, I examine how the societal and political conditions of competitive authoritaria... more In this chapter, I examine how the societal and political conditions of
competitive authoritarian regimes (CA)2 shape interest group ecologies.3
The chapter demonstrates that civil society and the mobilization of interest
groups therein is different in CA regimes compared to both consolidated
autocracies and liberal democracies. There is a unique set of conditions
affecting interest communities in these regimes. Pockets of civic
resistance, relative competitiveness of the oppositional groups, political
pressure in the form of cooptation and selective repression contour interest
groups’ organizational forms and entry and exit terms. I examine Turkey
under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP)
(2002–present) as an illustrative case. Specifically, I focus on advocacy in
the area of gender politics by highlighting the role of women’s organizations
that legitimize or challenge the AKP’s authoritarian gender politics.

Civil Society in Turkey: One Hundred Years of Solitude

American Political Science Association (APSA) Mena Newsletter 6(1), 2023

Civil Society and Latent Mobilisation Under Authoritarian Neoliberal Governance

Authoritarian Neoliberalism and Resistance in Turkey, 2021

This chapter reflects on the impact of Turkey’s authoritarian neoliberal governance on the transf... more This chapter reflects on the impact of Turkey’s authoritarian neoliberal governance on the transformation of civil society with a particular focus on latent counter-mobilisation. The first section focuses on how Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party, AKP) has transformed civic space through a selective approach that switches between repression and facilitation. The AKP represses autonomous and dissident organisations and activists through judicial harassment and new regulations while facilitating the growth of a government-oriented civil society sector (GONGOs). The GONGOs fulfil two aims: softening the immediate effects of the state’s withdrawal from social provision and generating bottom-up consent for authoritarian neoliberal governance. The second section analyses resistance against the AKP’s authoritarian neoliberalism by focusing on the case of a unique social movement, Müslüman Sol hareket (Muslim Left movement), which fuses class politics with Islamic soc...

Din ve Milliyetçiliğin Kesişiminde Popülizm

Istanbul Political Research Institute (IstanPol), 2021

Popülist aktörler, son yıllarda inişli çıkışlı iktidar performanslarına rağmen, birbirinden çok f... more Popülist aktörler, son yıllarda inişli çıkışlı iktidar performanslarına rağmen, birbirinden çok farklı ülkelerde kendilerine sağlam bir yer edinerek siyasetin başat aktörlerinden olmuşlardır. Popülist sağ partilerin demokratik ilkeler ve anayasa karşıtı söylem ve politikalarına rağmen birçok ülkede gözlemlenen "önlenemez" yükselişi, literatürde birbiriyle ilişkili iki noktayla açıklanmaktadır. Birincisi, popülistler, ekonomik, sosyal ve siyasi krizlerden mevcut kurumları ve hâkim siyasi aktörleri sorumlu tutarak, yerleşmiş pratiklere topyekûn savaş açmaktadırlar. 1 İkincisi, kendilerini siyaset dışı veya siyaset üstü olarak konumlandırarak, siyasetten ve yöneticilerden beklentisi kalmamış seçmen gruplarına, 'post-demokrasi' çağında yepyeni ve "kirlenmemiş" bir alternatif sundukları mesajını vermektedirler. 2 Ne var ki, popülistler kendilerine siyasi alan açmak için var olan krizleri kullanmak dışında, belli kişi ve grupları hedef göstererek yeni krizler de yaratmaktadırlar.

Popülizm, Otoriterleşme ve Kadın Politikaları

Istanbul Political Research Institute (IstanPol), 2020

Popülizm uzun bir süredir hem akademik hem de siyasi tartışmalara yön veren bir kavram. Özellikle... more Popülizm uzun bir süredir hem akademik hem de siyasi tartışmalara yön veren bir kavram. Özellikle iktidarda olan sağ popülist yönetimlerin siyasi kurumlara ve demokrasinin işleyişine verdiği zarar sıkça tartışılsa da farklı toplumsal grupları ilgilendiren ve grup sınırlarını yeniden çizen sosyal politikalara ilişkin tutumları tartışmalarda daha az yer buluyor. Bu analizde, sağ popülist iktidarların son yıllarda artan oranda başvurduğu muhafazakâr, milliyetçi ve ataerkil söylemlerin toplumsal cinsiyet politikaları ve kadın hakları üzerindeki etkisi Türkiye ve Polonya'dan örneklerle hem söylemsel olarak hem de siyasi politikalar düzleminde incelenecektir.

Compliance and Push-back: Politicization of Turkey’s Civil Society and Interest Groups under Autocratization

APSA Democracy and Autocracy, 2021

Europe in the World: EU Geopolitics and the Making of European Space

Journal of Contemporary European Research, 2012

Populism and Anti-Establishment Politics in Kosovo: A Case Study of Lëvizja Vetëvendosje

Few studies have systematically examined the rising political and social unrest in the Balkans. T... more Few studies have systematically examined the rising political and social unrest in the Balkans. This paper investigates the local dynamics and consequences of widespread anti-establishment discontent in Kosovo through the analytical framework of populism. By focusing on the case of Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (LVV), the paper sets out to consider two related questions: the unique populist style of the LVV and the complex reasons behind its electoral breakthrough and continuing support among various groups. Based on a qualitative documentary analysis of the party programme, manifesto, party publications, speeches of the leadership and interviews, the paper finds that the LVV successfully melds a populist political style, leftist/social democratic agenda and contentious politics as a means to disperse its message. The second part of the article offers three arguments to explain its appeal: structural factors (electoral availability and party system), societal dynamics (political and economic dissatisfaction) and the agency of the LVV (internal organisation, cohesion and leadership). The article contributes to the thriving literature on populism through a novel empirical scope, and to the literature on Southeast Europe through a focus on local agency, voter preferences and party system.

Another Crossroads in the Cyprus Conflict New Negotiations, Hope for Change and Tough Challenges Ahead

Research Turkey, 2014

UN-sponsored inter-communal negotiations for a comprehensıve settlement of the Cyprus problem are... more UN-sponsored inter-communal negotiations for a comprehensıve settlement of the Cyprus problem are going on for decades with breakdowns and under different leaderships from both sides. A new round of negotiations with the mediation of the UN Good Offices is due to start soon. The leaders from both sides, the President of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) i Nicos Anastasiades and the President of Northern Cyprus Derviş Eroǧlu, started informal talks in November 2013, but they could not agree on the wording of a joint statement that has so far adjourned the start of formal negotiations ii. This article offers an analysis of current issues and long-standing complexities in the peace process that are crucial to understand the importance of the approaching negotiations in Cyprus.

Avrupa'nın Çeperinde Popülizm: Türkiye, Doğu Avrupa ve Balkanlar'da Çoğunluk İktidarlarının Otoriterlik Stratejileri

Birikim, 2018

Civil Society and Latent Mobilisation Under Authoritarian Neoliberal Governance

Authoritarian Neoliberalism and Resistance in Turkey, 2022

This chapter reflects on the impact of Turkey's authoritarian neoliberal governance on the transf... more This chapter reflects on the impact of Turkey's authoritarian neoliberal governance on the transformation of civil society with a particular focus on latent counter-mobilisation. The first section focuses on how Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party, AKP) has transformed civic space through a selective approach that switches between repression and facilitation. The AKP represses autonomous and dissident organisations and activists through judicial harassment and new regulations while facilitating the growth of a government-oriented civil society sector (GONGOs). The GONGOs fulfil two aims: softening the immediate effects of the state's withdrawal from social provision and generating bottom-up consent for authoritarian neoliberal governance. The second section analyses resistance against the AKP's authoritarian This study has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Project 'CRAFT' with Grant agreement ID 795117.

The (Il)legitimacy of EU state building: local support and contention in Kosovo

Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 2016

This article investigates legitimacy of EU state building and conflict resolution as a continuous... more This article investigates legitimacy of EU state building and conflict resolution as a continuous and collective process through which local stakeholders, as the direct bearers of EU policies, ascribe meaning and support for the EU actors and actions on the ground. Contrary to the static and narrow understanding of legitimacy in the EU literature, the article offers a dynamic framework of legitimacy based on two main aspects: (i) sources of legitimacy (input and output) and (ii) objects of legitimacy (diffuse and specific support) in order to trace the complicated relationship between the EU and different local groups (the government, parliamentary opposition, local NGOs and public opinion) in Kosovo. The main argument is that the EU fails to generate local consent and faces a worsening erosion of support in Kosovo due to the limited participation of local stakeholders into the EU-promoted political decision-making structures and the contested ability of the EU to foster outcomes that have salience for local actors.

At the Intersections of Populism, Nationalism and Islam: Justice and Development Party and Populist Reconfiguration of Religion in Politics

British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies , 2021

This study examines the relationship between populism, nationalism and religion through evidence ... more This study examines the relationship between populism, nationalism and religion through evidence from Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule. The literature on the populism’s rapport with nationalism has developed in isolation from the burgeoning theorization of populism-religion nexus. This study has a two-fold contribution. Theoretically, it advances a historical approach to deepen our understanding of the widespread appeal of contemporary populism. It argues that populism can capitalize on unique contextual fusions of religion and ethnic (secular) nationalism that originate from historical legacies and ideas of modern nation-building to (re)construct the antagonistic discourse dividing the society into two camps of ‘the people’ and ‘the elites’. Empirically, by drawing upon discourse theory and empirical analysis of the AKP’s public discourse, the study offers a nuanced approach to the AKP’s much-debated stance on religion as an ideology versus instrument. Three areas are investigated to exemplify AKP’s construction of populist dichotomy: a) ethnic and religious minorities, b) women, and c) youth. The analysis reveals that the AKP has built three different, and at times, contradictory articulations of 'people as underdogs’, ‘people as nation’ and ‘people as the ummah’ against ‘the secular elites’, ‘the enemies within’ and ‘the West’, respectively.

Home State Oriented Diaspora Organizations And The Making Of Partisan Citizens Abroad: Motivations, Discursive Frames, And Actions Towards Co-Opting The Turkish Diaspora In Europe

Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, 2021

What motivates diasporas to support undemocratic rule in their countries of origin while enjoying... more What motivates diasporas to support undemocratic rule in their countries of origin while enjoying democratic freedoms in their countries of settlement? This study adopts a meso-level approach to answer this question, and focuses on the Turkish diaspora in Europe as a case study. Lately, the diaspora governance literature has focused on official diaspora institutions and the policies of countries of origin. This study, alternatively, highlights “diasporic civic space” as an arena entrenching authoritarian practices “at home.” It investigates the conditions under which diasporic civic space can be co-opted by undemocratic countries of origin and the role of “home state oriented diaspora organizations” in this process of co-optation. The study shows that diasporic civic space can offer resources to undemocratic regimes to mobilize previously dormant diaspora communities and create a support base abroad that is driven by nationalism and partisanship. The empirical discussion unveils four factors behind the successful mobilization of diasporas by undemocratic countries of origin: (1) nationalist sentiments among the diaspora; (2) motivations to get a share from the perks that may be meted out by home country government; (3) feelings of insecurity, fear, and marginalization as immigrants; and (4) the desire to assert one’s identity and cultural ties vis-à-vis the majority in countries of settlement. The findings are based on the case of the Turkish diasporic civic space in Europe, which has recently been mobilized by a diaspora organization with political ties to the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Original data are drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted in 2018–2019 with members and representatives of major pro-AKP diaspora organization known as the Union of International Democrats (UID), as well as Alevi, Kurdish, and Islamist/conservative diaspora organizations in Sweden, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Germany. The findings contribute to the understanding of undemocratic home states’ non-coercive and de-territorialized governance practices beyond their borders.

Fuzzy Borders between Populism and Sacralized Politics: Mission, Leader, Community and Performance in ‘New’ Turkey

Politics, Religion & Ideology , 2020

Why do right-wing populist leaders routinely resort to religious appeals? How should the religiou... more Why do right-wing populist leaders routinely resort to religious appeals? How should the religious symbolism in populist politics be interpreted? To address these questions, this study shifts attention to symbolic, ritualistic and emotive mobilization by populism through insights from cultural sociology and ‘sacralization of politics’. Populists in power sacralize the political arena by attributing nominally secular entities such as the nation, the state and the leader ‘religious’ traits as objects of loyalty and faith. By creating a syncretic amalgamation of the secular and religious domains, they perpetuate the dichotomy between the people and the powerful enemy, despite changing boundaries of both categories. Using the case of Turkey as illustration, the study examines three features of sacralized politics: (1) mission led by a sacrosanct leader, (2) consecration of elect community/the nation, and (3) performance politics that substitutes democratic participation. The findings suggest that beyond the instrumental use of religious tropes for political gain, right-wing populists rally support by selectively evoking the ‘cultural toolkit’ available to them. They also construct a specific group identity by evoking collective memory. Researchers should pay more attention to populists’ embeddedness in cultural structures in which religion remains a powerful pillar and resonate well with their audiences.

Turkey’s tamed civil society: Containment and appropriation under a competitive authoritarian regime

Journal of Civil Society, 2019

Under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule, Turkey’s civil society has enlarged both in s... more Under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule, Turkey’s civil society has enlarged both in size and diversity of civic engagement. This development is puzzling since Turkey’s weak democratic credentials do not allow an enabling political and legal setting for civil society’s expansion. This study argues that the expansion can be explained through a particular dilemma of rulers in competitive-authoritarian (CA) regimes. The AKP is caught between the conflicting interests of appropriating and containing civil society. While the government needs to cherish civil society to sustain CA regime, it also needs to repress it, as civil society is the only arena where dissenting social forces can still carve pockets of resistance and challenge the dominant paradigms of the regime. Based on extensive fieldwork, this study discusses the patterns of containment and appropriation that have led to the steady expansion of civil society under pressure. The AKP’s dilemma has also rendered Turkey’s civil society ‘tamed’, namely politicized, disabled and segregated. The study broadens the understanding of relations between civil society and the state in CA regimes by offering essential insights into how these regimes are sustained, entrenched and also contested through and within civil society.

Work for the Nation, Obey the State, Praise the Ummah: Turkey’s Government-oriented Youth Organizations in Cultivating a New Nation

Ethnopolitics, 2021

Modern Turkey’s emergence was a nationalist struggle that aimed to cultivate youth as secular cit... more Modern Turkey’s emergence was a nationalist struggle that aimed to cultivate youth as secular citizens. Almost a century later, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) attempts to re-model youth through a new ethno-religious nationalist project. This study argues that different from the secular Kemalist social engineering that dominated the state’s youth policy for decades, the AKP relies on the intermediary agency of Islamist-conservative and government-oriented civil society to shape young generations and convey ethno-religious nationalism to youth. Seventeen government-oriented youth organizations illustrate the extent of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) quest for a new national identity and cultural hegemony within the broader context of Turkey’s steady decline into an authoritarian regime. The findings—based on original fieldwork conducted between October 2017–June 2019—demonstrate youth organizations’ country-wide grassroots engagement in four categories: indoctrination, extra-curricular training, service provision in the education sector, and street activism and humanitarian work. Their self-defined goals, ideological roots and grassroots reach inject a new disciplinary ethos and statist values in youth towards shaping them as Muslim and nationalist ‘ideal citizens’. The study offers insights on the societal aspects of authoritarian regime building and cautions that crafting ‘successful’ authoritarian regimes is not a one-way process that takes place only at the formal institutional level. A broad range of societal players and coalitions, including civil society, play a critical role in authoritarian regime building.

Overcoming Prejudices and Stigmatization towards Refugees: A Novel Approach through Deliberative Citizen Dialogues in Turkey

Migration Studies, 2025

Can changing how refugees and asylum seekers are narrated in public debates help citizens reasses... more Can changing how refugees and asylum seekers are narrated in public debates help citizens reassess their prejudices? Which narratives would garner support from ordinary citizens and promise to generate an attitude shift? While hate speech and far-right narratives targeting forcibly displaced people, refugees and asylum seekers are reported extensively, little is known about how citizens would respond to alternative narratives that portray them as rights-bearing agents. This study uses an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that brings migration scholarship in dialogue with cognitive fields and social psychology and offers a novel participatory approach to generate data. In eight cities across Turkey, citizens were invited to deliberate three sets of ‘de-stigmatizing narratives’ based on (1) social solidarity, (2) collective memory of welcoming and settling refugees in the past, and (3) the injustices of exploitation that refugees encounter while earning a living. Participants were steered to discuss each narrative through (a) progressive framing (fairness, egalitarianism, and social cohesion) and (b) conservative-nationalist framing (maintenance of law, order, and identity). The findings reveal that engaging with de-stigmatizing narratives evokes affective empathy, leading to moderate, refugee-supportive attitudes among participants even in a context where anti-refugee attitudes have escalated to communal attacks targeting refugees. However, positive attitudes towards refugees display a local turn, varying by city and often after progressive frames are supported by conservative-nationalist ones. The study highlights the importance of participatory community mobilization and sub-national/local approaches to shift, counter, or replace prevailing narratives to help reduce misinformation and prejudices about refugees.

Civic Opposition and Democratic Backsliding: Mobilization Dynamics and Rapport with Political Parties

Government and Opposition

Democratic backsliding has posed significant challenges to democracies in many countries. Recent ... more Democratic backsliding has posed significant challenges to democracies in many countries. Recent calls for a better theorization of pushback against backsliding have triggered renewed scholarly interest in the field of opposition and its role in stopping or reversing creeping authoritarian rule. This study calls for a theoretical and empirical recalibration of the concept of opposition to account for multifaceted ‘non-partisan’ actors and venues of oppositional mobilization. It proposes a new classification of resilient civic opposition. The explanatory typology is based on two factors: (1) the ability of civic opposition to bring multiple grievances together and to balance between on-street and off-street mediums, and (2) the rapport between political opposition parties and civic opposition. Four cases of civic opposition from Hungary and Turkey illustrate the proposed typology empirically.

Surveil, Datafy, Publicize: digital authoritarianism and migration governance in Turkey

Democratization

Scholarly interest in digital authoritarianism has primarily focused on consolidated authoritaria... more Scholarly interest in digital authoritarianism has primarily focused on consolidated authoritarian regimes, where digital tools and data are employed for surveillance, repression, propaganda, and manipulation of citizens. This study redefines the scope of digital authoritarianism by examining its role in migration governance and its application beyond fully authoritarian states. It introduces a theoretical framework that examines digital authoritarianism through three key mechanisms: digital surveillance, datafication, and the selective publicization of migration data. Using Turkey as a case study, the empirical analysis highlights the distinct impacts of digital authoritarianism on citizens and non-citizens (i.e. refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants). While non-citizens are targeted by the punitive use of surveillance and datafication, the selective dissemination of migration data serves to manipulate public opinion in a failed policy area. The study then examines the European Union's role in enhancing Turkey’s digital authoritarian capacities. It demonstrates that digital authoritarianism is becoming increasingly transnational, with democracies actively driving and financing its implementation in semi-authoritarian contexts, often circumventing democratic oversight. This study advances the theorization of digital authoritarianism by unpacking its nuanced and cross-border dynamics.

Acts of Compliance and Tactful Contention The Polarized Terrain of Women’s Organizations in Turkey under Authoritarian Pressure

Lobbying the Autocrat: The Dynamics of Policy Advocacy in Nondemocracies , 2023

In this chapter, I examine how the societal and political conditions of competitive authoritaria... more In this chapter, I examine how the societal and political conditions of
competitive authoritarian regimes (CA)2 shape interest group ecologies.3
The chapter demonstrates that civil society and the mobilization of interest
groups therein is different in CA regimes compared to both consolidated
autocracies and liberal democracies. There is a unique set of conditions
affecting interest communities in these regimes. Pockets of civic
resistance, relative competitiveness of the oppositional groups, political
pressure in the form of cooptation and selective repression contour interest
groups’ organizational forms and entry and exit terms. I examine Turkey
under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP)
(2002–present) as an illustrative case. Specifically, I focus on advocacy in
the area of gender politics by highlighting the role of women’s organizations
that legitimize or challenge the AKP’s authoritarian gender politics.

Civil Society in Turkey: One Hundred Years of Solitude

American Political Science Association (APSA) Mena Newsletter 6(1), 2023

Civil Society and Latent Mobilisation Under Authoritarian Neoliberal Governance

Authoritarian Neoliberalism and Resistance in Turkey, 2021

This chapter reflects on the impact of Turkey’s authoritarian neoliberal governance on the transf... more This chapter reflects on the impact of Turkey’s authoritarian neoliberal governance on the transformation of civil society with a particular focus on latent counter-mobilisation. The first section focuses on how Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party, AKP) has transformed civic space through a selective approach that switches between repression and facilitation. The AKP represses autonomous and dissident organisations and activists through judicial harassment and new regulations while facilitating the growth of a government-oriented civil society sector (GONGOs). The GONGOs fulfil two aims: softening the immediate effects of the state’s withdrawal from social provision and generating bottom-up consent for authoritarian neoliberal governance. The second section analyses resistance against the AKP’s authoritarian neoliberalism by focusing on the case of a unique social movement, Müslüman Sol hareket (Muslim Left movement), which fuses class politics with Islamic soc...

Din ve Milliyetçiliğin Kesişiminde Popülizm

Istanbul Political Research Institute (IstanPol), 2021

Popülist aktörler, son yıllarda inişli çıkışlı iktidar performanslarına rağmen, birbirinden çok f... more Popülist aktörler, son yıllarda inişli çıkışlı iktidar performanslarına rağmen, birbirinden çok farklı ülkelerde kendilerine sağlam bir yer edinerek siyasetin başat aktörlerinden olmuşlardır. Popülist sağ partilerin demokratik ilkeler ve anayasa karşıtı söylem ve politikalarına rağmen birçok ülkede gözlemlenen "önlenemez" yükselişi, literatürde birbiriyle ilişkili iki noktayla açıklanmaktadır. Birincisi, popülistler, ekonomik, sosyal ve siyasi krizlerden mevcut kurumları ve hâkim siyasi aktörleri sorumlu tutarak, yerleşmiş pratiklere topyekûn savaş açmaktadırlar. 1 İkincisi, kendilerini siyaset dışı veya siyaset üstü olarak konumlandırarak, siyasetten ve yöneticilerden beklentisi kalmamış seçmen gruplarına, 'post-demokrasi' çağında yepyeni ve "kirlenmemiş" bir alternatif sundukları mesajını vermektedirler. 2 Ne var ki, popülistler kendilerine siyasi alan açmak için var olan krizleri kullanmak dışında, belli kişi ve grupları hedef göstererek yeni krizler de yaratmaktadırlar.

Popülizm, Otoriterleşme ve Kadın Politikaları

Istanbul Political Research Institute (IstanPol), 2020

Popülizm uzun bir süredir hem akademik hem de siyasi tartışmalara yön veren bir kavram. Özellikle... more Popülizm uzun bir süredir hem akademik hem de siyasi tartışmalara yön veren bir kavram. Özellikle iktidarda olan sağ popülist yönetimlerin siyasi kurumlara ve demokrasinin işleyişine verdiği zarar sıkça tartışılsa da farklı toplumsal grupları ilgilendiren ve grup sınırlarını yeniden çizen sosyal politikalara ilişkin tutumları tartışmalarda daha az yer buluyor. Bu analizde, sağ popülist iktidarların son yıllarda artan oranda başvurduğu muhafazakâr, milliyetçi ve ataerkil söylemlerin toplumsal cinsiyet politikaları ve kadın hakları üzerindeki etkisi Türkiye ve Polonya'dan örneklerle hem söylemsel olarak hem de siyasi politikalar düzleminde incelenecektir.

Compliance and Push-back: Politicization of Turkey’s Civil Society and Interest Groups under Autocratization

APSA Democracy and Autocracy, 2021

Europe in the World: EU Geopolitics and the Making of European Space

Journal of Contemporary European Research, 2012

Populism and Anti-Establishment Politics in Kosovo: A Case Study of Lëvizja Vetëvendosje

Few studies have systematically examined the rising political and social unrest in the Balkans. T... more Few studies have systematically examined the rising political and social unrest in the Balkans. This paper investigates the local dynamics and consequences of widespread anti-establishment discontent in Kosovo through the analytical framework of populism. By focusing on the case of Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (LVV), the paper sets out to consider two related questions: the unique populist style of the LVV and the complex reasons behind its electoral breakthrough and continuing support among various groups. Based on a qualitative documentary analysis of the party programme, manifesto, party publications, speeches of the leadership and interviews, the paper finds that the LVV successfully melds a populist political style, leftist/social democratic agenda and contentious politics as a means to disperse its message. The second part of the article offers three arguments to explain its appeal: structural factors (electoral availability and party system), societal dynamics (political and economic dissatisfaction) and the agency of the LVV (internal organisation, cohesion and leadership). The article contributes to the thriving literature on populism through a novel empirical scope, and to the literature on Southeast Europe through a focus on local agency, voter preferences and party system.

Another Crossroads in the Cyprus Conflict New Negotiations, Hope for Change and Tough Challenges Ahead

Research Turkey, 2014

UN-sponsored inter-communal negotiations for a comprehensıve settlement of the Cyprus problem are... more UN-sponsored inter-communal negotiations for a comprehensıve settlement of the Cyprus problem are going on for decades with breakdowns and under different leaderships from both sides. A new round of negotiations with the mediation of the UN Good Offices is due to start soon. The leaders from both sides, the President of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) i Nicos Anastasiades and the President of Northern Cyprus Derviş Eroǧlu, started informal talks in November 2013, but they could not agree on the wording of a joint statement that has so far adjourned the start of formal negotiations ii. This article offers an analysis of current issues and long-standing complexities in the peace process that are crucial to understand the importance of the approaching negotiations in Cyprus.

Avrupa'nın Çeperinde Popülizm: Türkiye, Doğu Avrupa ve Balkanlar'da Çoğunluk İktidarlarının Otoriterlik Stratejileri

Birikim, 2018

Civil Society and Latent Mobilisation Under Authoritarian Neoliberal Governance

Authoritarian Neoliberalism and Resistance in Turkey, 2022

This chapter reflects on the impact of Turkey's authoritarian neoliberal governance on the transf... more This chapter reflects on the impact of Turkey's authoritarian neoliberal governance on the transformation of civil society with a particular focus on latent counter-mobilisation. The first section focuses on how Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party, AKP) has transformed civic space through a selective approach that switches between repression and facilitation. The AKP represses autonomous and dissident organisations and activists through judicial harassment and new regulations while facilitating the growth of a government-oriented civil society sector (GONGOs). The GONGOs fulfil two aims: softening the immediate effects of the state's withdrawal from social provision and generating bottom-up consent for authoritarian neoliberal governance. The second section analyses resistance against the AKP's authoritarian This study has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Project 'CRAFT' with Grant agreement ID 795117.

The (Il)legitimacy of EU state building: local support and contention in Kosovo

Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 2016

This article investigates legitimacy of EU state building and conflict resolution as a continuous... more This article investigates legitimacy of EU state building and conflict resolution as a continuous and collective process through which local stakeholders, as the direct bearers of EU policies, ascribe meaning and support for the EU actors and actions on the ground. Contrary to the static and narrow understanding of legitimacy in the EU literature, the article offers a dynamic framework of legitimacy based on two main aspects: (i) sources of legitimacy (input and output) and (ii) objects of legitimacy (diffuse and specific support) in order to trace the complicated relationship between the EU and different local groups (the government, parliamentary opposition, local NGOs and public opinion) in Kosovo. The main argument is that the EU fails to generate local consent and faces a worsening erosion of support in Kosovo due to the limited participation of local stakeholders into the EU-promoted political decision-making structures and the contested ability of the EU to foster outcomes that have salience for local actors.

At the Intersections of Populism, Nationalism and Islam: Justice and Development Party and Populist Reconfiguration of Religion in Politics

British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies , 2021

This study examines the relationship between populism, nationalism and religion through evidence ... more This study examines the relationship between populism, nationalism and religion through evidence from Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule. The literature on the populism’s rapport with nationalism has developed in isolation from the burgeoning theorization of populism-religion nexus. This study has a two-fold contribution. Theoretically, it advances a historical approach to deepen our understanding of the widespread appeal of contemporary populism. It argues that populism can capitalize on unique contextual fusions of religion and ethnic (secular) nationalism that originate from historical legacies and ideas of modern nation-building to (re)construct the antagonistic discourse dividing the society into two camps of ‘the people’ and ‘the elites’. Empirically, by drawing upon discourse theory and empirical analysis of the AKP’s public discourse, the study offers a nuanced approach to the AKP’s much-debated stance on religion as an ideology versus instrument. Three areas are investigated to exemplify AKP’s construction of populist dichotomy: a) ethnic and religious minorities, b) women, and c) youth. The analysis reveals that the AKP has built three different, and at times, contradictory articulations of 'people as underdogs’, ‘people as nation’ and ‘people as the ummah’ against ‘the secular elites’, ‘the enemies within’ and ‘the West’, respectively.

Home State Oriented Diaspora Organizations And The Making Of Partisan Citizens Abroad: Motivations, Discursive Frames, And Actions Towards Co-Opting The Turkish Diaspora In Europe

Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, 2021

What motivates diasporas to support undemocratic rule in their countries of origin while enjoying... more What motivates diasporas to support undemocratic rule in their countries of origin while enjoying democratic freedoms in their countries of settlement? This study adopts a meso-level approach to answer this question, and focuses on the Turkish diaspora in Europe as a case study. Lately, the diaspora governance literature has focused on official diaspora institutions and the policies of countries of origin. This study, alternatively, highlights “diasporic civic space” as an arena entrenching authoritarian practices “at home.” It investigates the conditions under which diasporic civic space can be co-opted by undemocratic countries of origin and the role of “home state oriented diaspora organizations” in this process of co-optation. The study shows that diasporic civic space can offer resources to undemocratic regimes to mobilize previously dormant diaspora communities and create a support base abroad that is driven by nationalism and partisanship. The empirical discussion unveils four factors behind the successful mobilization of diasporas by undemocratic countries of origin: (1) nationalist sentiments among the diaspora; (2) motivations to get a share from the perks that may be meted out by home country government; (3) feelings of insecurity, fear, and marginalization as immigrants; and (4) the desire to assert one’s identity and cultural ties vis-à-vis the majority in countries of settlement. The findings are based on the case of the Turkish diasporic civic space in Europe, which has recently been mobilized by a diaspora organization with political ties to the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Original data are drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted in 2018–2019 with members and representatives of major pro-AKP diaspora organization known as the Union of International Democrats (UID), as well as Alevi, Kurdish, and Islamist/conservative diaspora organizations in Sweden, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Germany. The findings contribute to the understanding of undemocratic home states’ non-coercive and de-territorialized governance practices beyond their borders.

Fuzzy Borders between Populism and Sacralized Politics: Mission, Leader, Community and Performance in ‘New’ Turkey

Politics, Religion & Ideology , 2020

Why do right-wing populist leaders routinely resort to religious appeals? How should the religiou... more Why do right-wing populist leaders routinely resort to religious appeals? How should the religious symbolism in populist politics be interpreted? To address these questions, this study shifts attention to symbolic, ritualistic and emotive mobilization by populism through insights from cultural sociology and ‘sacralization of politics’. Populists in power sacralize the political arena by attributing nominally secular entities such as the nation, the state and the leader ‘religious’ traits as objects of loyalty and faith. By creating a syncretic amalgamation of the secular and religious domains, they perpetuate the dichotomy between the people and the powerful enemy, despite changing boundaries of both categories. Using the case of Turkey as illustration, the study examines three features of sacralized politics: (1) mission led by a sacrosanct leader, (2) consecration of elect community/the nation, and (3) performance politics that substitutes democratic participation. The findings suggest that beyond the instrumental use of religious tropes for political gain, right-wing populists rally support by selectively evoking the ‘cultural toolkit’ available to them. They also construct a specific group identity by evoking collective memory. Researchers should pay more attention to populists’ embeddedness in cultural structures in which religion remains a powerful pillar and resonate well with their audiences.

Turkey’s tamed civil society: Containment and appropriation under a competitive authoritarian regime

Journal of Civil Society, 2019

Under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule, Turkey’s civil society has enlarged both in s... more Under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule, Turkey’s civil society has enlarged both in size and diversity of civic engagement. This development is puzzling since Turkey’s weak democratic credentials do not allow an enabling political and legal setting for civil society’s expansion. This study argues that the expansion can be explained through a particular dilemma of rulers in competitive-authoritarian (CA) regimes. The AKP is caught between the conflicting interests of appropriating and containing civil society. While the government needs to cherish civil society to sustain CA regime, it also needs to repress it, as civil society is the only arena where dissenting social forces can still carve pockets of resistance and challenge the dominant paradigms of the regime. Based on extensive fieldwork, this study discusses the patterns of containment and appropriation that have led to the steady expansion of civil society under pressure. The AKP’s dilemma has also rendered Turkey’s civil society ‘tamed’, namely politicized, disabled and segregated. The study broadens the understanding of relations between civil society and the state in CA regimes by offering essential insights into how these regimes are sustained, entrenched and also contested through and within civil society.

Work for the Nation, Obey the State, Praise the Ummah: Turkey’s Government-oriented Youth Organizations in Cultivating a New Nation

Ethnopolitics, 2021

Modern Turkey’s emergence was a nationalist struggle that aimed to cultivate youth as secular cit... more Modern Turkey’s emergence was a nationalist struggle that aimed to cultivate youth as secular citizens. Almost a century later, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) attempts to re-model youth through a new ethno-religious nationalist project. This study argues that different from the secular Kemalist social engineering that dominated the state’s youth policy for decades, the AKP relies on the intermediary agency of Islamist-conservative and government-oriented civil society to shape young generations and convey ethno-religious nationalism to youth. Seventeen government-oriented youth organizations illustrate the extent of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) quest for a new national identity and cultural hegemony within the broader context of Turkey’s steady decline into an authoritarian regime. The findings—based on original fieldwork conducted between October 2017–June 2019—demonstrate youth organizations’ country-wide grassroots engagement in four categories: indoctrination, extra-curricular training, service provision in the education sector, and street activism and humanitarian work. Their self-defined goals, ideological roots and grassroots reach inject a new disciplinary ethos and statist values in youth towards shaping them as Muslim and nationalist ‘ideal citizens’. The study offers insights on the societal aspects of authoritarian regime building and cautions that crafting ‘successful’ authoritarian regimes is not a one-way process that takes place only at the formal institutional level. A broad range of societal players and coalitions, including civil society, play a critical role in authoritarian regime building.

The referendum brings to the surface divisions within the Islamist camp in Turkey

Women of ‘new’ Turkey: dystopian sacralised mothers and everyday feminists

What could and should the EU do with Turkey? (co-authored with Kerem Öktem)

Welcome to the new EU: ‘co-organiser of the world’

In the midst of rapid democratic backsliding and increasingly authoritarian rule, the EU remains ... more In the midst of rapid democratic backsliding and increasingly authoritarian rule, the EU remains in disarray in its approach towards Turkey. Until last year, it remained largely united in support of the Turkish government. Despite clear signs of AKP's monopolisation of power, breach of the rule of law and the constitution, the European Commission postponed the publication of the critical progress report after the November 2015 elections in order to secure a fragile and widely criticised refugee agreement in March 2016. Relations started to fracture after the 15 July coup attempt after which the EU gave only hesitant support for the Turkish government. The EU's 'cold' reaction was a sign of growing anti-Erdoğan sentiment within the EU, particularly due to the threats of 'flooding the EU with migrants' if the EU insisted on linking visa liberalisation to the amendment of the notorious antiterrorism law. Yet, with the strong backing from Germany, the refugee agreement was kept intact, despite several setbacks in its implementation.

European Parliament: Has someone just uttered the word ‘authoritarian’?

Mutual Hypocrisy at the EU’s borders: Three Questions about European Values

This is the first in a three-part series on democracy, human rights and the refugee crisis on the... more This is the first in a three-part series on democracy, human rights and the refugee crisis on the EU’s borders. In part one of this series, Bilge Yabanci questions the morality of EU incentive deals with quasi-authoritarian regimes, asking: ‘When will the EU start taking the authoritarian practices in candidate countries seriously and what can

EU Ambassador to Turkey forced to resign: How long can appeasement last?

The head of the EU delegation to Turkey, Hansjörg Haber, announced his resignation earlier this w... more The head of the EU delegation to Turkey, Hansjörg Haber, announced his resignation earlier this week after less than a year since he was appointed to his post. He was the highest representative of the EU in Turkey, acting like an EU ambassador as the heads of EU delegations are called since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009.

Every man is enemy of every man: Can Turkey save itself from self-destruction?

When Did the EU’s Future Member States Become a Shelter for Extremists?

The EU-Turkey Migrant Swap Deal in Force Amid Outcry for the Universal Right to Asylum and Humanitarian Values

Populism, Elections and the Ever-present Crisis

Does the Erdoğan-Davutoğlu split provide an opening for Turkish democracy?

MSc Thesis Assessing the Impact of the European Union in Kosovo Conflict Resolution : Building States and Societies upon Tabula Rasa?

PhD Thesis Legitimation of EU Conflict Resolution through Local Actors: Cases of Kosovo and Northern Cyprus

Conflict resolution constitutes a crucial aspect of the European Union’s foreign policy objective... more Conflict resolution constitutes a crucial aspect of the European Union’s foreign policy objectives and external actions. Despite its centrality, there is a profound mismatch between the academic level discussions about the EU’s role and impact on various conflicts of ethno-political nature and what actually takes place in practice, as the EU conflict resolution agenda unfolds within different local settings. Adopting an analytical perspective of legitimation based on local support, the thesis seeks to understand how and when local agency impacts EU conflict resolution. Subsequently, the framework is applied to analyse the complex interaction between fragmented local groups (political elites, non-state organisations and public) and the EU (as a framework and as a policy-actor) in two grand conflict resolution projects of the EU: Kosovo and North Cyprus. The thesis finds that local groups have a distinctive ability to confer or withdraw support to certain EU policies, to push the EU to introduce or alter mechanisms for local participation into policy-setting process and to counter and disqualify the EU’s normative arguments and policy choices with alternative normative arguments. Diverse local agents actively select norms and reinterpret them in order to match them with their extant ideas with an aim to push the Union to pursue a local vision of conflict resolution. This process of re-interpretation or localisation has behavioural implications on local groups as well. It approximates the conflict resolution process to local priorities and expectations; otherwise, the EU starts to lose its appeal to local groups to maintain its decisive role in the conflict resolution process. These findings help us complement the EU literature which analyse conflict resolution through Europeanisation/socialisation and conditionality perspectives. Local groups are not merely passive recipients of EU benefits. Nor do they go through a linear process of socialisation and natural acceptance of the EU agenda in the long-term. By analysing the reasons and implications of increasing local resistance in Kosovo and North Cyprus, the thesis also bridges the theoretical gap between the EU literature and broad conflict resolution studies which promotes a genuine focus to the ‘everyday concerns’ of local groups.

CALL FOR PAPERS-International Workshop Unpacking 'the Opposition' in undemocratic regimes: The Role, Transformation and Challenges of the Oppositional Actors in Turkey and beyond

by Bilge Yabanci and Chiara Maritato

The landslide victory of the main opposition party (the Republican People's Party, CHP) in Turkey... more The landslide victory of the main opposition party (the Republican People's Party, CHP) in Turkey's 2019 municipal elections marks a surprising moment in Turkish politics and the end of an intense decade. Although tacit and contested, a cooperation between the CHP, its nationalist allies (Iyi Parti), and the pro-Kurdish Democratic People's Party (HDP) made possible a political reshuffle on the local level of politics, which many would not have thought was still possible after a decade of authoritarian centralization. Although the government continues to criminalize and persecute the opposition, particularly the HDP by suspending the democratically elected mayors, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) emerged deeply rattled and insecure. However, what is considered to be 'the electoral success' of the opposition parties in Turkey could not be possible without a sustained civic and social opposition that kept the grassroots organized, and developed alternative channels of participation and production of democratic demands. The purpose of this workshop is to initiate a debate on the opposition in Turkey and contribute to the theorization of the role, transformation, mobilization strategies and different forms of the opposition in undemocratic regimes. The growing scholarly interest in de-democratization and the emergence of several forms of hybrid regimes has created an extensive literature on the institutional erosion and 'liquid regimes', the monopolization and constellations of the executive power and the political economy of hybridization across the world. However, the role and the changing forms of the opposition(s) under the process of autocratization remains undertheorized. In academic debates, 'the opposition' is mostly utilized in reference to political parties and categorized as 'successful' or 'failed' based on their electoral performance. While the political opposition is crucial in undemocratic regimes without doubt, the lack of an in-depth theorization on the forms, agency and transformation of the opposition(s) is highly problematic. As Schedler (2013) argues, despite the political violence and high odds against 'their success' in the traditional sense, the oppositions persist in many different forms, incentivize ways of alternative participation, demand democratic rights and protest. In this sense, it might be more useful to consider 'many' oppositions (political/civic/social, local/national, formal/informal) and investigate several ways in which they articulate their demands and counter the challenges they face. What does it mean to be an opposition in autocratizing regimes? How do the oppositional actors organize in and outside the political party arena? What are their activities and strategies under the autocratic limitations on the basic freedoms? How do institutionalized political opposition and organized civic and social opposition in Turkey cooperate? In which areas does a lack of communication between the two pose challenges for oppositional activity? How do the oppositional forces enhance forms of cooperation which go beyond the electoral campaigns and voting? How do 'the oppositions' in Turkey compare with oppositions in similar contexts? Relying on the literature on party politics, political contention, social movements and infrapolitics, the workshop invites original contributions on topics covering but not strictly limited to: